Albufeira will extend the remote irrigation management to Parque do Ribeiro and the Montechoro garden and continue a plan started four years ago to increase water efficiency in irrigation.
This investment of 81 thousand euros will be carried out under a protocol signed between the municipality and the APA –Agência Portuguesa do Ambiente, within the scope of the Regional Water Efficiency Plan.
The system to be installed «allows reading of environmental parameters, such as rainfall, wind intensity, temperature, among others, correlating this information with the variables programmed for irrigation, optimizing them», according to the City Council of Albufeira.
“With this system, when it rains, the station sends a signal to the programmer, canceling the watering program. The same happens when the intensity of the wind, making possible the flow deviation out of the area to be irrigated. Also in this case, the watering schedule is interrupted. In other words, the system automatically adapts the water flow and, in cases of strong winds, cuts consumption, avoiding wasting water», adds the municipality.
Control and monitoring is done via WiFi.
The Chamber stresses that this municipality currently has “a 20% waste of water in urban irrigation, one of the lowest values in the region”.
This has been achieved with an investment in smart irrigation equipment in recent years.
The system began with the Parque da Alfarrobeira and Jardim da Biblioteca, and was later extended to the area of the Paços do Concelho building, to the Eixo Viário and to Vale Faro.
“This investment allows for greater sustainability in the management of irrigation water and corresponds to our search for cost savings and natural resources. Our environmental concerns are several and with this system, we fill millions of cubic meters of water per year», emphasizes José Carlos Rolo, mayor of Albufeira.
Photos: Albufeira Chamber
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