Drought: Algarve golf courses want connection to WWTP to reduce consumption

The Sotavento is in a situation of severe drought, but the Barlavento also suffers from the worsening lack of rain and water scarcity.

The golf courses in the Algarve want to be quickly connected to the WWTP and consume only waste water, a measure to reduce the consumption of the public network that sector officials regret is taking a long time to be implemented.

The Lusa agency spoke to officials from the two largest groups with golf courses in the south of the country who underline that they have already taken measures to reduce consumption, but that they still need to start receiving more water from the Wastewater Treatment Stations (WWTP).

The east side of the Algarve is in a situation of severe drought, but the west side also suffers from the worsening lack of rain and water scarcity, which has led the authorities to look for measures that minimize the effects of the drought without harming the main sector of the region, tourism.

“Invest as quickly as possible. We've been talking about investing for two years, but very few concrete steps have been taken on the ground», said Pedro Lopes, director of the Pestana Group for the Algarve.

The official lamented the existence of a series of investments that have been planned for several years and that continue without leaving the drawing board, such as those foreseen in the construction of a desalination plant, in the water networks, in the sewers for the WWTP or in the leaks of the network, among others.

The administrator of the group, which owns five of the approximately 40 courses in the Algarve, guarantees that, in recent years, the reduction in the water used to irrigate the five golf courses has been «one third to 40%», with a series of measures, such as using new grass varieties that require less water.

“Here you can see [the lawns]. [Some parts] are even a little brownish in some places, precisely because they receive less water and less fertilizer», said Pedro Lopes, pointing to the Gramacho golf course, in Carvoeiro (Lagoa).

The director of Grupo Pestana assured that they are using «a lot less water» than three years ago, insisting that now «it is essential» to connect the golf courses to the WWTP.

Pedro Lopes has no doubt that «the water [from the WWTP] that is wasted today, going into rivers and the sea, [...] can be used on golf courses precisely in the summer, which is when they need it most».

The director of Grupo Pestana underlined that the 40 golf courses in the south of the country «are always attentive to new technologies and how to save water. Not only because of its cost, but also because it is a very scarce resource», he underlined.

«There are already three [fields] connected [to WWTP] in the Algarve, but many more have to do this», underlined Pedro Lopes, insisting on the lack of these stations to provide wastewater.

The Pestana Group will start next summer to use WWTP water in two of its golf courses in the Algarve, at a time when there are more tourists in the region and the treatment plants have a higher production.

For his part, Rui Grave, director of maintenance for the golf courses of the D. Pedro Group (Vilamoura), which also has five courses in the south of the country, underlined the effort made by his company in recent years to reduce the amount of water used for irrigation.

«We are, year after year, always in the system of using the minimum necessary and only what is necessary. Therefore, it is not a question of having changed the chip: o chip it never got out of scarcity”, said the person in charge of maintaining the fields which, in the case of this group, uses groundwater through boreholes.

Each hectare of golf course consumes an average of 8.000 cubic meters (m3) of water per year, with variations depending on the technology and irrigation systems installed, according to Rui Grave.

The person responsible for maintenance at the D. Pedro Group gave the example of the Laguna field and the investment made in recent years, which has allowed a 50% reduction in water consumption.

«Any intelligent use of water involves a set of measures. In this case, we are talking about grasses adapted to the scarcity of water, talking about irrigation systems that water the strictly necessary and in the necessary quantity, that is, that are very versatile, pumping systems that manage to maintain an adequate flow and pressure», he said. .

As for the use of wastewater in the irrigation of these golf courses, Rui Grave revealed that the project «is in an almost final phase» and by 2025 he expects that «at least two or three courses will be irrigated in their entirety with wastewater».

«There is a great effort on the part of Águas de Portugal, on the part of Águas do Algarve, on the part of the APA [Agência Portuguesa do Ambiente], on the part of the golf courses so that the water comes from the WWTP with sufficient quality to maintain our lawns in good conditions, without ever jeopardizing public health», he said.

The official also defended that there is no reason for criticism in the sense that golf courses waste a lot of water, regretting that the creation of this idea is "difficult to dismantle" and defending that water in the golf sector is used with intelligence and efficiency .

«What I can say is that, of the golf courses in Portugal that I visit, and that I see, they all have this concern and they are all rowing and going in this direction of managing water with the greatest rationality possible and use as little as possible", said Rui Grave.

Those responsible for the golf industry in the Algarve cited studies that point to a water consumption of 05 to 06% by their lawns, 60 to 65% by agriculture, approximately 25% by urban consumption and around 05% by small industries.

 



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