La Laguna Wastewater Plant Upgrade to Irrigate 220 Acres
La Laguna's upgraded wastewater treatment plant in Punta del Hidalgo now provides fully reusable water for irrigation, benefiting local farmers and promoting sustainable agriculture.
The town of La Laguna and Teidagua, a local company, have finished upgrading the wastewater treatment plant in Punta del Hidalgo. The new system can clean 100% of the treated water, making it safe to reuse for watering crops. This could help farmers irrigate over 220 acres of land in the Northeast region.
Around twenty farmers will benefit from these improvements. The plant can now handle more water, increasing its capacity from 850 to 1,200 cubic meters per day. This should be enough to meet the needs of the area for the next 20 years.
The Mayor of La Laguna, Luis Yeray Gutiérrez, and the manager of Teidagua, Braulio Domínguez, announced the new water regeneration system at a presentation on Tuesday. Several local farmers and council members, including Cristina Ledesma and Ángel Chinea, attended the event.
"The upgraded plant will give us top-quality water that can be reused, which is great for the environment. It also means that local farmers will have access to water for their crops," said the Mayor. He also thanked the Teidagua team for their hard work in creating a modern plant.
Braulio Domínguez, the manager of Teidagua, explained that they had turned a regular treatment plant into a "biofactory." He added that the plant now provides a significant amount of water each day, which helps with the water shortage by providing farmers with water that wasn't available before.
Juan González de Mesa, speaking for the farmers, thanked the town council and Teidagua for completing the project ahead of schedule. He emphasized the importance of the upgrade, saying that wells and water sources are drying up, and this purified water will help them have sustainable agriculture. He also noted that the treated water is good for growing fruit.
The improvements made over the past year allow the plant to completely regenerate the purified water to the highest quality. This is thanks to a modern filtration system that separates solids from liquids. The system also uses reverse osmosis to reduce the water's salt content, making it better for irrigation.
The project also has environmental benefits. By reusing the treated water, it helps replenish underground water sources, preventing them from being overused and becoming salty. The filtration system can also remove microplastics. The entire process is carefully monitored with regular tests to check the water's quality and nutrient levels.
The Punta del Hidalgo plant was originally built in the early 1980s. While some improvements had been made over the years, the growing population in the area required a larger and more efficient plant that could also provide water for irrigation.
In May 2023, La Laguna received a grant of 1,799,077 euros from the Canary Islands government to help fund the project. The grant was part of a program to support projects in Biosphere Reserves, funded by the European Union's Next-Generation funds.