144 million euros to be spent on water sanitation over five years

The Territory and Sustainability Department and the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona (AMB) yesterday announced plans to spend 144 million euros on water sanitation over the next five years, a figure that is ten times that of the previous plan.

Territory and sustainability minister, Damià Calvet, who presented the agreement alongside the AMB vice president, Eloi Badia, insisted that “it is very significant, not only due to the amount, but because the investment will affect an asset and essential resource for the population.”

The funds will come from the water levies managed by the Catalan Water Agency (ACA), an environmental tax that was “a first” in Spain when it was introduced back in 1983.

Spending will go to two main areas: some 78 million euros towards maintenance and improvement, with the aim, according to Calvet, of “continuing with the good functioning of existing treatment plants”, with the remaining 66 million euros to be spend on new investment.

Badia detailed some of these new investments, such as updating the technology used in treatment plants, completing connections in the metro area’s sanitation network, and working on the odour coming from the Fòrum, Viladecans and Gavà treatment plants.