Aguas de Calpe will start repairing the drinking water pipes in Pioco - Terrasala next Monday, 23 September.

The work consists of laying 1,243 metres of new pipes with three junctions to the existing networks, which will allow 741 metres of obsolete pipes to be taken out of service. This will improve the efficiency of the municipal drinking water supply network and minimise the risk of breakdowns.

In addition, a pressure regulating valve will be installed in the Terrasala area and 9 house connections will be renewed. The expected duration of the work is four months and the investment will amount to 102,839.85 €.

This work will ensure continuity of supply as it will remove sections of pipe that were in private property, making it difficult to detect possible leaks and will now be replaced by others on public roads.

On the other hand, the conditions of the drinking water supply in the houses are optimized in terms of pressure and flow to ensure the supply of houses at higher levels and to regulate the pressure in houses at lower levels.

Aguas de Calpe's continuous renewal of the city's pipelines guarantees the sustainability of Calpe's supply system. This, together with other measures such as the telecontrol system, the division of the network into sectors and the installation of intelligent household meters, has contributed to improving hydraulic efficiency in Calpe, which currently stands at 85% and is a benchmark in the province of Alicante. Hydraulic efficiency is the index that evaluates the efficiency of the drinking water supply system, meaning that currently in Calpe 85 percent of the water supplied by the network reaches the households of the customers and only 15 percent is lost due to various circumstances such as failures, fraudulent tapping of pipes.

In April 2019, Aguas de Calpe was awarded AENOR certification according to the UNE 178.101-1 water efficiency standard, making it the first company in Europe to manage the integrated water cycle certified according to this standard for the management of water networks in the vicinity of smart cities.

A total of 2850 pupils from primary, middle, secondary and special schools began the 2018-2019 school year in Calpe today.

This year, 157 children are enrolled in the Silene d'Ifac kindergarten, 519 in the second cycle, 1,145 in primary school, 719 in secondary school, 158 in secondary school, 45 in basic vocational training, 40 in intermediate vocational training and 67 in special school. Enrolment is possible throughout the year, so these figures may vary.

The Mayor of Calpe, Ana Sala, and the Education Councillor, Rebeca Merchán, visited the Azorín School this morning to find out how the new school year began. This summer, through the municipal brigades, the Calpe City Council carried out various gardening, sanitary, carpentry, electrical and blacksmithing works in schools in the municipality to prepare for the start of the course.

The Mayor was also interested in the project of the new gymnasium to be built in the Azorín school as part of the Edificant Programme. The project design is expected to be tendered shortly and construction of the facilities, estimated at EUR 616,000, can begin next year.

The city of Calpe has announced that it will amend the ordinance on the coexistence of citizens in public spaces in order to tighten penalties for dog owners who conduct their business on the street. It will also force them to carry a disinfectant bottle to dilute the urination of pets.

The aim of these changes is to make citizens aware of the need to maintain the health of roads and public spaces and to avoid deterioration in urban furniture.

Until now, and despite the fact that the street cleaning ordinance established the obligation to collect faeces from pets, there was no sanction typified in the municipal ordinances. Now it is intended to regulate as a serious offence both not to collect excrement and not to dilute urine.

The amendment to the ordinance is currently being drafted and is expected shortly.

Calpe continues to improve the surroundings of Las Salinas. A few months ago, the regeneration works and the creation of pedestrian paths have been completed, and now the initiative is continued with tree planting actions. The Diputación Provincial is subsidising the project, which is concentrated in the area of Las Salinas and Avenida Juan Carlos I.

This is an area of 27,800 m2 of green space separated from the built-up area and the road. This area was vegetationless except for small shrubs and dry mimosa. The project included irrigation, soil preparation and planting of mulberry trees, strawberry trees, carob trees, olive trees, poplars, pomegranate trees and fig trees. These are indigenous species that are easily maintained on these soils.

The action has a total cost of 62.213 Eur and was financed by the Diputación Provicnial through investments in trees for urban soils.

This initiative is completed with the Plan de Arbolado project included in the EDUSI Plan. This initiative aims to create a green corridor that connects the urban center with the Salinas and the surroundings of the beaches, thus improving the urban environment through recovery of green spaces and regenerating degraded urban areas.

The project focuses on the avenues Spanish Armies, Juan Carlos I and the area of Las Salinas. Although the species to be planted will be defined in the project, the EDUSI Plan contemplates the planting of walnut, poplar,  platanaceae, cherry, strawberry, lime, ash and mulberry trees.

The objectives of this part of the EDUSI plan are to articulate part of the city's infrastructure network, to geographically link two valuable areas (Historical Centre-Las Salinas/Peñón surroundings), to improve the urban landscape in general and to improve CO₂ exchange.

Other improvements

This year, a signposted circular route was already laid out in Las Salinas. The main paths were signposted with beacons 1.20 metres high. Since the path crosses two drainage ditches, two pedestrian bridges were installed to cross these points.

Over the northern part of the water, a 163 metre long footbridge was installed to guide visitors through and limit access to areas that require greater protection due to the breeding grounds.

All this will be completed with the installation of elements of the Las Salinas birdwatching route within the programme that the Ministry of Tourism and Environment has carried out in various parts of the municipality to promote ornithological tourism or birdwatching. To this end, various panels have been set up with information on birds that can be seen in each of these places, their more or less strong presence depending on the season and the places where they live, as well as the course of the route. A wooden bird observatory has also been set up to admire the birds without disturbing the local fauna.

In addition, in one of the most urban areas of the protected area, old spills have been removed and cadastral paths have been restored with clearing work. Rowing vegetation without any relation to the Las Salinas ecosystem has been removed removed.