More sewage farms to be built on island

THE Balearic government will build ten new sewage farms in Majorca during 2006 and the first six months of 2007, environment ministry sources said.
The towns which will benefit are Cas Concos, Sa Calobra, Can Picafort, Alaro, Felanitx, Soller, Colonia de Sant Jordi, Son Servera and Cala d'Or.
Four of the facilities will be built from scratch, while the remaining six will be existing ones which will be virtually dismantled and rebuilt as they are considered to be obsolete. Jaume Font, the environment minister, said earlier in the week that at the end of the current legislature, the Balearics would have 105 plants which would provide 45 million cubic metres of treated water. At the start of the legislature, in June 2003, it managed 76 plants which produced 41 million cubic metres of treated water. This water is used mainly for irrigation and also by town councils for hosing down the streets and watering gardens, thus saving water from the aquifers, which is for human consumption. Earlier this week an agreement was signed under which the government will provide treated water for irrigation for 19 farmers in Algaida and Montuiri.