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Date Published: 27/07/2021
ARCHIVED - Rupture of drinking water pipe causes consternation in San Javier
The water poured into the Mar Menor off Playa Barnuevo, tinted with red soil
The rupture of a drinking water pipe in San Javier resulted in the sudden appearance of a large stain of discharged reddish water into the Mar Menor off Playa Barnuevo on Tuesday, causing consternation amongst bathers.
A drinking water pipe that runs through the Academia General del Aire, in Santiago de la Ribera, lying within the municipality of San Javier, broke on Tuesday morning, and although initially water from the fracture was picked up by the network of drains in the area and flowed down into the stormwater tank, the remaining space in the tank remaining following the rain on Monday was rapidly filled and the water started to overflow out into the Mar Menor, forming a substantial red stain of cloudy water, much to the surprise of the bathers who were on this beach.
According to the Mancomunidad de Canales del Taibilla, who have responsibility for the pipeline, water was flowing out of the pipe for approximately 45 minutes and was confirmed to be clean drinking water, which acquired a reddish hue due to the contact sustained with the earth surrounding the breakage. The only chemical in the water was a “little chlorine” used in the normal processing of drinking water they said.
Me acaban de llegar estas imágenes 🥴🤯
Hablan por sí solas.
Santiago de la Ribera
San Javier#MarMenor #SOSMarMenor #Murcia pic.twitter.com/PgKN2OzgLV
— Raquel Ros (@Kaquele) July 27, 2021
The pipeline where the break occurred had broken on previous occasions and was an old pipe, part of a network which was due for imminent replacement.
The organization had put the renewal of the entire set of connections supplying water to the AGA out to tender in May for over 200,000 euros, a tender process which only concluded on July 20, hence the fact that the new contract to replace the network had not yet been awarded.
The town hall of San Javier said in a statement that: The rupture of a pipe of the Mancomunidad de los Canales del Taibilla that supplies drinking water to the General Air Academy has caused a discharge off Barnuevo beach, next to the AGA. The City Council of San Javier would like to reiterate, given the alarm generated, that this is drinking water, whose turbidity is due to the water contacting with soil from the park near to the point of rupture of the pipeline.
San Javier Council gave immediate notice to the Mancomunidad de los Canales del Taibilla to proceed with its repair and as a precautionary measure it has been decided to close the area of the beach affected by the turbidity until it decreases and the results of the analysis that will also be carried out verified as a maximum guarantee.”
The broken pipeline has now been fixed.
San Javier council has confirmed that all has returned to normal at Playa Barnuevo:
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