Tag Archives: Waste & sewage

Water in Maó: opening more windows

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Commenting on a sensitive topic always has its risks, yet advancing environmental issues has never been easy.

For weeks, there has been an ongoing discussion about the water crisis in Maó, stemming from the failure to notify citizens when an excess of nitrates was detected in the municipal water supply. The political cost of this incident is clear, with resignations, an extraordinary council meeting, and the launch of further investigations. Many are watching closely.

For these reasons, the GOB waited a few days before discussing the broader consequences of this water crisis: the economic, environmental, and social uncertainties it brings.

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Maó’s water: an urgent and important matter

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Elevated nitrate levels in Maó’s tap water bring a series of urgent issues that must be addressed with proper information.

Beyond these urgent matters lie several key causes—the root of the problem, which should not be overshadowed by media headlines.

The GOB advocates for a tariff revision, reducing rates for reasonable consumption and raising them significantly for excessive usage.

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Dangerous reclaimed water for irrigation

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The chlorides in the treated water intended for irrigation in Sant Lluís double the maximum permitted levels. Over half of the water reaching the treatment plant may also contain other contaminants. Seven public supply wells could be affected if contamination occurs.

The GOB has submitted objections to the reclaimed water irrigation project that the Balearic Government’s Agriculture Department is promoting in Sant Lluís, warning of its lack of guarantees and the high contamination risks associated with it.

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The Cap d’en Font housing development, fined for illegal sewage discharge

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The presence of a pipe that had been discharging sewage onto the rocks at Cap d’en Font has resulted in a proposed fine of €150,000.

Last summer, GOB Menorca reported the illegal discharge of sewage from a house in Cap d’en Font, a residential area filled with large villas and lush green lawns but lacking a proper sewage system. The sewage had been flowing through a concealed pipe hidden among the vegetation, and eyewitnesses indicated that this had been an ongoing issue.

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Large Irrigations in Full Sun and Against the Law

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In a year of severe drought, large forage irrigations continue to be seen watering during peak sun hours. In Menorca, this practice is prohibited by law. The GOB (Balearic Group of Ornithology and Defense of Nature) has written to the Department of Water Resources to request that large farms engaging in these practices be warned.

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Discharge of sewage water in Cap d’en Font

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The presence of sewage water along the coast of Sant Lluis  led to finding a fixed installation for a discharge into the public domain. GOB documented the case and made a formal complaint to Costas and the Department of the Environment.

Cap d’en Font has a series of large chalets with enormous lawns in their gardens. For that reason, the area was chosen by GOB to show the large consumption of water taken for gardening, as part of the framework for their excursions made last year in their campaign Menorca In-SOS-tenible.

Some of the people on this excursion saw, in an open area close to one of the large chalets, an area covered by shrubs and weeds, filled with sewage water and told GOB. An inspection led to finding a pipe hidden in the vegetation, from where the discharge came.

Comments from the neighbours suggested that they had noticed, on other occasions, rocks with coloured waters and suspicious smells. It pointed to a habitual practice of the emptying of a septic tank belonging to a chalet, which, they also said, had a lot of summer tourist activity despite not having a tourist rental permit.

Cap d’en Font is one of the urbanizations that does not have a sewage system. The owner of each establishment is responsible for contracting someone to empty their septic tank when it is full.

GOB estimates that the garden attached to the discovered “facility” must use about 1000 litres of water daily just for maintaining the lawn in the summer. This is 90,000 litres, minimum, during the tourist season.

For that reason alone, these chalets should be, already, the object of systematic inspections. This is particularly so since there is a means for discharging sewage water into a public domain, including an area where people swim, which aggravates the situation even more.

A formal complaint has been registered with the Balearic Government Ministry of Sea (that assumed the responsibility of coastal surveillance since July) and with the Environmental Agencies.

S’Estany de Mongofra and the problem of microplastics

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GOB organised a clean up of the coast along s’Estany de Mongofra that took place on Sunday 23 July. The topography and the enclosed coves of this unique area make it particularly prone to the accumulation of waste brought in by the sea.

The fifty volunteers that came to help were distributed to various points already identified around s’Estany. In total, they collected 83 kilos of waste, mostly plastics. The presence of microplastics in the area, with muddy or pebble beaches, made them difficult to collect, so that they could only be collected manually picking up each one by one.

It was a day of intense heat so that the mid-morning snacks, with Land Stewardship Scheme farm products, above all the melons and watermelons, helped rehydration and to give strength to continue with the task.

At the end of the day, the different types of waste were separated. This time, the remains of broken plastics made up the main part of the waste, weighing 29 kg, followed by bulky plastic waste, 23 kg, and in third place were the ropes weighing 17 kg. What is surprising is the large number of stoppers that can be found, on this occasion 3.5 kilograms that took up a volume of 30 litres.

Since 2015, GOB has organised various clean up days at the same point and something interesting has been observed that, with the passing of time, the smallest plastics (microplastics, mesoplastics and others) have been replacing the larger objects that used to represent the most common waste. These small waste objects are nothing more than the result of plastic degradation, which, as we all know, is not biodegradable so that it breaks up into smaller and smaller pieces that end up in the trophic chain and become ingested by humans.

We are grateful to all the volunteers that took part on this day and we encourage everyone to take advantage of their beach days and collect the plastic waste they are sure to find in the sand.

This event was supported by the Island Governing Council and the Menorca Preservation Fund.

For photographs, please look here