National
Water tankers to be used to take drinking water to Barcelona by sea
By h.b.
Apr 4, 2008 - 7:19 AM

Cataluña is to spend 22 million € a month on bringing drinking water into the area by sea. The water will be brought into the ports of Barcelona and others, yet to be decided on ten boats which will run from Tarragona, Carboneras in Almeria, and Marseille in France.

The boats are expected to start running in the first half of next month, and the service, bringing in 2.6 cubic hectometres a month, will avoid the need for water restrictions in the Barcelona urban area. However the Almeria link is not expected to be operational until August.

It comes as RENFE Spanish railways say it will take them three months to establish facilities for a similar service by rail, although even then capacity will be 25 times less than that of the sea route.

The subject of water was in the minds of the people of Barcelona yesterday when a burst water main forced a ten metre geezer to form in the street in the Camp de l’Arpa area of the city at 5pm last night. The fire services estimated total repair time at 18 hours.