Monchique City Council has just been awarded the Seal of Exemplary Quality for Water for Human Consumption awarded by ERSAR – Regulatory Authority for Water and Waste Services.
From the perspective of providing excellent basic services, ERSAR awards the Water and Waste Service Awards to the most distinguished management entities in this area, in partnership with the Jornal Água & Ambiente and with the collaboration of representative entities in the sector: a Portuguese Association of Water Distribution and Drainage (APDA), Portuguese Association of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering (APESB), Portuguese Association of Water Resources (APRH), Association for Waste Management (ESGRA), Portuguese Association of Companies Environmental Technologies (APEMETA) and the Portuguese Association for Consumer Protection (DECO). In this context, every year 435 managing entities are evaluated.
Among the Water and Waste Services Awards, Quality Seals are awarded on various topics to management entities that stand out for the excellence of their services.
In the 2018 edition, the Monchique City Council, among a range of 84 other entities, was awarded this Seal of exemplary quality of water for human consumption.
This «prestigious distinction», in addition to the significant investment in the sector by this municipality, stems from the strict requirements that regulate its activity, stresses the municipality.
In the field of treatment and distribution of water for consumption, the Municipality of Monchique guarantees its excellence through regular analysis of all parameters with the highest probability of water contamination and checks the residual disinfectant (chlorine) content, in order to guarantee the maximum quality of the product that it makes available to its customers.
In addition, it complements the water quality control with the regular verification of all microbiological and chemical indicators that it is necessary to maintain at legally determined levels.
The monitoring plan is duly approved by the regulatory authority, the analyzes are carried out by accredited laboratories and the results have proven that the water has excellent quality, as can be seen from the results regularly published on the Chamber's website, which you can access it by clicking here.
The Municipality of Monchique recalls having made «an enormous effort in recent years to put an end to a third-world scenario that registered about 7/8 years ago, when there were populations in various areas of the municipality without public water supply and basic sanitation, even registering several fines for non-compliance, as the sewage was routed to the rivers of the county».
After an «investment of around eight million euros in infrastructure in the sanitation and supply sectors throughout the county», it is now under development «another set of works worth two million euros, with a view to closing this cycle investments, which resulted from the use of funds under the operational programs POVT and POSEUR», adds the municipality.
«This has been a sector with great relevance in recent years for this mountain town known for its rich and fresh waters, but which has also marked its action by the constant valorization of this important resource, through its 45 vertical and horizontal holes, of which it extracts the water it distributes to its population», he explains.
The Municipality of Monchique was a pioneer in the execution of an induced aquifer recharge project, within the scope of the European LIFE project, under the financing of the AdaPT program, with the objective of improving the resilience of municipal water sources against the risks of climate change. What he called “Sowamo – sowing water in the Monchique mountains” is an innovative project to combat climate change and has already been awarded at European level.
At the ordinary meeting of the municipal Executive this week, Rui André called all the employees of the water and sanitation sector and publicly acknowledged the work developed by this team, which, "although small, has carried out its functions in an exemplary manner".
"From the plumber to the bricklayer, from the foreman to the engineer, everyone has their share in the success and results now achieved", stressed the mayor, who wanted to publicly recognize and share this award with its main officials, hoping that the quality of the service they provide to the population is always the motivation for their daily work.
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