The Water Reuse Station (WRS) in Vilamoura, in the Algarve, capable of irrigating gardens, golf courses, and agriculture, and prepared to supply water for human consumption, was inaugurated today by the Minister of the Environment.
“The station allows irrigation of gardens, therefore golf courses as well, agriculture, and it already has a number of contracts, some even signed,” said Maria da Graça Carvalho, indicating that the water produced will be used in various non-potable applications.
According to the minister, the Vilamoura infrastructure, in the municipality of Loulé, in the district of Faro, “is prepared for human consumption,” although that use “is not necessary at this moment.”
The Minister of Environment and Energy added that a pilot project will be developed to use the reused water in agriculture, considering that this step represents “a major advance.”
Questioned also about the Algarve desalination plant, whose construction has been challenged in court by environmentalists and criticized by the president of Albufeira City Hall, Rui Cristina, elected from Chega, she assured that “the works are progressing normally.”
“At this moment the works are underway. We had the court’s authorization to continue with the works and that is what is being done. There is no reason to believe that there will be any changes to that,” she declared.
The minister also defended the rigor of the environmental impact assessment process, stressing that the Environmental Impact Study was prepared by the Portuguese Environment Agency “with a high degree of rigor.”
“The study was done with great rigor, as are all studies of the Portuguese Environment Agency. There are, at times, criticisms of the Portuguese Environment Agency for being very rigorous, for taking long, for consulting many people, and that is what it does. That is a safeguard when these cases go to court,” she said.
Maria da Graça Carvalho added that, since she assumed office, the ministry has obtained court decisions favorable in processes related to contested environmental projects.
Regarding the concerns expressed by the president of Albufeira City Hall, the minister revealed that a monitoring commission for the enterprise had been created, as suggested by the mayor, integrating the presidents of the municipalities of Albufeira and Loulé, representatives of fishermen’s associations, parish councils and other entities.
This commission will monitor the development of the works and the execution “of the environmental mitigation measures, including the monitoring of the conduit destined for the dispersion of the brine,” one of the main concerns raised by the Albufeira mayor.
Maria da Graça Carvalho symbolically laid today the first stone of the desalination plant project, which will be installed in the municipality of Albufeira, also in the Faro district. Construction works have been underway since last April.
The project was awarded for €107.92 million to the Portuguese-Spanish consortium formed by Aquapor, responsible for 11 water and sanitation service concessions in Portugal, and by the GS Inima group.
Financed with around €56 million by the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), the desalination plant will be able to convert, in the initial phase, 16 million cubic metres of seawater into potable water, potentially reaching 24 million cubic metres in the future.
