Wednesday, 9th August 2023
Calvià 2000 and St Regis Mardavall agree to save 16.5 million litres of drinking water per year by using reclaimed water to irrigate green areas
The pilot project is committed to the management of water resources, sustainability and the balance of tourism activity with the environment
New step in the search for resource management and environmental sustainability in the municipality of Calvià. The public company Calvià 2000 and St Regis Mardavall Mallorca Resort have agreed on Tuesday to implement a pilot irrigation project with reclaimed water in green areas and gardens of the Mardavall hotel complex on the Costa d'en Blanes. The forecast of the project is the replacement of around 16.572 cubic metres per year of drinking water from the municipal supply network with reclaimed water from the Calvià Water Regeneration Stations, used to irrigate approximately 12.000 metres of green areas, gardens and bushy area within the hotel complex. In other words, thanks to the agreement signed, the consumption of more than 16.5 million litres of water intended for human consumption from the public network will be saved in favour of the use of reclaimed water.
The agreement-signing event was attended by the mayor of Calvià, Juan Antonio Amengual; the general manager of the St Regis Mardavall Mallorca Resort, Stij Oyen; the financial director, Marina Vera; CEO Francisco Vila; the deputy mayor responsible for Tourism, Elisa Montserrat; the deputy mayor and president of Calvià 2000, Esperanza Catalá; the manager of Calvià 2000, Andrés Barceló; and the technical director of the Calvià 2000 Water Cycle, Xavier Pérez, amongst others.
This plan's main strategic objectives are to reuse 100% of the reclaimed water in the municipality to replace the use of drinking water, diversify uses in different types of irrigation (green areas, gardens, agriculture, golf), urban uses (cleaning roads, toilet cisterns) and other environmental uses, managing to minimise the discharge of treated water into the sea. The technical facilities of this complex have recently been adapted to the conditions established in the municipal Ordinance for sustainable management of water reuse in the municipality of Calvià (BOIB 24 of 23/02/2023).
The mayor of Calvià, Juan Antonio Amengual, has celebrated what he considers an example of "public-private collaboration, a fundamental pillar for the consolidation of the reuse of reclaimed water with full health and environmental guarantees. I appreciate Mardavall's effort and predisposition. These are the measures that demonstrate how it is possible to reconcile tourism activity and environmental protection. In Calvià we open the way to which we hope other establishments will join and that it will serve as a model for other municipalities. Also that more establishments join with similar initiatives.
On his behalf, Stij Oyen has valued the agreement as an example of a “pilot project for the use of reclaimed water in our commitment to luxury tourism, which is our hallmark. We are delighted to be able to do it with the Town Hall and Calvià 2000».
Xavier Pérez has pointed out that “this project is possible thanks to the fact that Calvià has regeneration stations that allow the regulatory conditions for water reuse. With the implementation of this pilot project we intend to ensure the development on a small scale of a management model with a high level of demand and reliability that allows it to serve as a model for its extrapolation and implementation at the level of the hotels and preferred consumers of the municipality of Calvià».