Alamillo, a municipality of Ciudad Real with 461 inhabitants, solved a public health problem by recovering drinking water after 15 years. This was explained to ABC by the city’s mayor, Ángel Alcalde, in office since 2023, and … who, with his team, detected that this city had a very serious problem, the water was never drinkable, in addition to the color and smell that characterized it in recent years.
“The tap water was not even suitable for showering, it was always dirty and had a very bad smell.recognizes the mayor, who quickly set to work to resolve the problem. “We tried to talk to Sacyr Almadén, which was the company responsible for managing the water and from the beginning there was not a good connection with them, but the fact is that we were paying for water, which in addition to being expensive, was practically useless, and people let us know that.
Ángel Alcalde was not aware of this problem, as he previously lived in Ciudad Real. “We spoke with the Council of Communities of Castile-La Mancha, with the Provincial Delegation of Ciudad Real and all of them helped us in principle, but the first thing we had to do was to detect the problems, Action had to be taken in the marsh and in the sewage treatment plant“.
According to the municipal official, life in the commune was very degraded and 80% of the population, aged over 60, had to fetch water from a drinking source in San Benito, 20 kilometers away. from Alamillo, or to a very small fountain in the village, that when 12 families went there, the water was lacking and they had to wait until the next day, which was very uncomfortable for all the neighbors. “It harmed all levels of society in Alamillo, it took a lot of time to get clean water, but above all it harmed something fundamental, the dignity of people. Everyone in the world has the right to have clean water that makes life more comfortable and more dignified, and in Alamillo this was starting to be a very serious problem,” he adds.
The municipality began carrying out external audits to detect problems, studies which concluded that the water was not drinkable and that it was even less used for other purposes. It was starting to be a health problem. “For years, the treatment plant and the filters had not been maintained, all the equipment was very worn, in short, a disaster,” says Ángel Alcalde.
Ultimately, Sacyr backed out of the contract and Alamillo City Hall began working with a new company, Emaser.
On December 5, a general meeting was held in the town where Emaser reported on all actions in the reservoir and in the sewage plant and explained it in detail to the neighbors. HASAt the end, they toasted with drinking water, during an event in which, in addition to the municipal corporation and neighbors, the deputy government delegate in Ciudad Real, David Broceño, was present; the provincial delegate for Sustainable Development, Agustín Espinosa; the deputy director of management of the Puertollano health zone, Lola Ortega, and the delegate of Emaser, Eduardo Juliá.
“We managed to eradicate the problem and we hope that from now on everything will go very well.but the neighbors have been badly treated for 15 years; I hope that with this improvement, more young people will come to town. Alamillo is located in the southern part of Ciudad Real, 10 kilometers from the province of Córdoba and 12 kilometers from Badajoz. It is a very beautiful city, surrounded by exuberant nature and where there could be significant rural tourism,” concludes the mayor, who wishes to rediscover the general harmony of all cities.
For this renovation, the Community Commission spent between 70,000 and 80,000 euros on projects, and the Provincial Delegation of Ciudad Real around 43,000 euros, although it will be necessary to invest more so that all the problems are resolved in about a year and a half.
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