The publicly-held company Águas do Douro e Paiva is responsible for supplying water to Águas do Norte and has two interventions in progress in the municipality of Baião, to expand the network and increase water supply flows.
The connection between the Amarelhe reservoir and the Valadares reservoir is now in its final phase.
Meanwhile, the creation of a new source of supply, through the construction of a water catchment structure on the Douro River, is also at an advanced stage.
According to the Mayor of Baião, Paulo Pereira, “the construction of these water supply infrastructures will significantly contribute to improving the management of the system and increasing the amount of water available, since the coverage of the public water supply network water, which already covers more than 80% of the population, will be expanded.
These interventions are crucial as the existing collection points no longer guarantee enough water to serve more people and meet their needs”.
Paulo Pereira also left an appeal:
“In order for us to continue to have investments of this size, it is essential that those who already have the water supply network at their doorstep connect to the system”.
INVESTMENT OF 3.71 MILLION EUROS
The connection between the Amarelhe and Valadares reservoirs included the installation of 5 km of pipelines, as well as the construction of two delivery points for the control and quantification of the flows supplied to the Valadares reservoir.
It is also prepared for the future connection to the existing distribution network in various places in the Union of Parishes of Santa Cruz do Douro and São Tomé de Covelas and was also designed with a view to possible future expansion to the parishes of Viariz and Gestaçô.
This project, which represents an investment of 1.66 million euros, also carried out rehabilitation interventions in the Amarelhe reservoir, namely exterior and interior painting and is scheduled for completion next summer.
The other ongoing intervention is the construction of a structure for capturing water from the Douro River, which will increase the supply to 4,000 cubic meters per day and represents an investment of 2,50,000 euros (financed with 1,000,000 euros through of the Cohesion Fund).
This project, which is scheduled for completion at the beginning of next year, includes the construction of a structure for capturing water from the Douro River, the installation of a water pipeline to the new Sobreiral reservoir (in the parish of Gôve), the respective station pumping station and a second conduit between this and the reservoir of the Water Treatment Station (ETA) in Pousada.
These works considerably increase the reliability of the system, reduce losses and guarantee the quality and quantity of water required, in order to allow a greater coverage of the supply, contributing to the increase in the coverage of the public water network and a supply to populations with better quality.
