Tenerife: Puerto de la Cruz water supply system to be concessioned for 40 years for €420 million

Tenerife is preparing for a major tender! The municipality of Puerto de la Cruz wants to grant a concession for the entire water supply system for 40 years. The contract amount is 420 million euros.

All the necessary documents have already been prepared: contract terms, tariffs, general plan, feasibility study, and investment program. They are scheduled for final approval at the city council meeting on the 29th. After that, a tender will be announced immediately on the public procurement platform.

Pedro Antonio Campos, the finance councillor, says that this will solve the "main problem" they inherited from the previous government. This refers to the expiration of important municipal contracts, such as those for water supply, waste removal, and park maintenance. The water contract expired back in 2021 and was not extended.

"We tackled the water supply system first and foremost because of the spills at Playa Jardín. It then became clear that we had serious problems with the networks throughout the city," explains Pedro Campos.

The new 40-year contract is intended to completely renovate the entire water supply system of Puerto de la Cruz (which has 31,000 residents). The changes will affect not only the water supply but also the sewage system, to collect and treat wastewater.

"We urgently need an ambitious plan so that Puerto de la Cruz stops making headlines due to pollution and wastewater treatment problems. We want the city to become an example of sustainable development, and this contract will help us with that," says local council member Leopoldo Afonso.

The company that wins the tender must invest 31 million euros. Among the requirements is a complete reconstruction of the pumping stations, which are an important part of the sewage system. They pump wastewater to where it cannot flow by gravity, such as to treatment plants. The old stations will not only be renovated, but those located directly on the seashore will also be removed.

There are also plans to renovate the sewage system in the Punta Brava area, where spills often occur, leading to the closure of Playa Jardín beach. The problem is that about 125 out of 450 houses are not connected to the city's sewage system. Thanks to the investment, all houses will be connected to the sewage system, and cesspools will be closed.

In addition, a desalination plant will be built near the treatment plant in Punta Brava. This will help avoid water shortages and improve the quality of the water, which currently contains a lot of nitrates. There are plans to increase the supply of desalinated water and mix it with water from galleries and wells to balance the mineral content. New water tanks will also be built, for example, in San Nicolás, with a volume of 5,000 cubic meters.

"Thanks to these plans, we will eliminate all spills and connect all houses to the sewage system. This will allow us to obtain certificates of seawater quality," says the finance councillor. He hopes that the beaches of Puerto de la Cruz will once again receive the "blue flags" that they lost due to pollution. The problems concern not only Playa Jardín but also other places, such as San Telmo and Lago Martiánez.