The purification plant for El Berro in the Sierra Espuña

Due to its lack of natural water resources, Murcia has become Spanish leader in water recycling projects

Antonio Cerdá, the regional minister for Agriculture and Water, accompanied Alhama’s Mayor, Alfonso Fernando Cerón, to El Berro yesterday to officially lay the first stone of the new water purification plant in the district.

Due to, its own lack of natural water  resources, the Region of Murcia is at the forefront of water purification not only in Spain but also in Europe, with the scarcity of water leading to a highly efficient resource management system. The basin of the River Segura is the only one where all purified water is recovered and re-used, and the latest plant in El Berro is another step forward in the region’s quest to maximize its resources.

It will have the capacity to serve a population of 1,200 (the current population of the village is 240), purifying a maximum of 240m3 per day. This is part of the regional program to extend the most efficient purification systems possible to the smaller villages, and the new plant has been designed in such a way as not to contrast with the landscape of the Sierra Espuña.

From a technical point of view, it will include the tertiary filtration and disinfection system which “perfects” the treatment of waste water, making it completely valid for agricultural use. The 689,000-euro cost of the new plant will be financed to the tune of 80% by the European Union Cohesion Fund.

At the stone laying ceremony the Minister pointed out that 100% of the urban population of the Region of Murcia is connected to the network of purification plants, which eliminate 98% of all contamination and supply an extra 100 cubic hectometers of safe and pure water per year to the Region’s farmers. So efficient is the network, he says, that the level of purification is above the levels required by EU regulations.

Finding out more information about El Berro
    
El Berro is a pedanía of Alhama de Murcia within the Sierra Espuña, which lies within South-west Murcia..

For more information about this area, use the map box at the bottom of every page. You can search by area of South west Murcia and there is also a link to that section from the toolbar at the top of every page. It's also possible to search by town or in this case, area, so select either Alhama de Murcia or the Sierra Espuña, to really drill information down to a very local area.