“he qualles river A lot of pressure. Environmentalists have been denouncing it, and so have neighbors.For us, the ideal situation is that they carefully debug Vozmediano Fish Farm and “Polygons of Ólvega and Ágreda”, explains Maria Pilar PerezMayor of Torreras.
his people, and 240 residents registered Although only 152 people now live there, it is one of four in the province Zaragozaall of which are located at the foot of the mountains to the north of Moncayo and on the banks of the Cuelles River, whose inhabitants They can’t drink tap water. Due to the presence of zoonotic protozoa in the network, which has been happening for nearly a month to more than half a month, an outbreak of gastroenteritis occurred in Tarazona, with more than half a thousand cases since September 9.
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Back away.
Advice not to drink tap water has affected more than 11,000 neighbors town of Zaragoza, although the presence of the microorganism poses the risk of quickly spreading to Zaragoza and three other towns navarre The total number exceeds 16,000.
Perez and other council members have been tracking the number of residents simply because they have been in charge of the area for more than two weeks. bottle distribution Six liters per person per day to meet oral water consumption.
“They treat you like you have money, but actually we have money Everything is done by hand among MPs,” he denounced, referring to Aragonese GovernmentThere are signs that its health officials have some room for improvement in their management of such emergencies.
“Health conditions were not notified to us”
Perez: “We found that we were influenced by a faction in Tarazona”
In summary, this event includes the early morning hours of Tuesday, September 12, when the Tarazona City Council (10,565 residents) detected ” Significant improvement “Gastroenteritis cases”, the number of cases will soar to 508 in a few weeks, and the number of cases continues.
It turned out that the cause was the presence of oocysts from a certain organization in the supply network. protozoan That kind Cryptosporidium. It is a single-celled organism derived from animals that lives sleepily in humid environmentit most often arrives from the intestines of animals and fish, cattle and salmon, and is activated when it remains in the vertebrate intestines where it colonizes, where it causes gastroenteritis and indigestion Lasts up to a week or more.
Ten days later, the alert was extended to Novaras, Los Fayos and Torrerasthey draw their water from the same point in Quiles, the first city to have a joint pipeline with Tarazona, and the last two in another city.
“We found out that we were affected by the Tarazona side because the health department did not notify us,” Perez explained, highlighting the situation on the first day they don’t get the same guidelines To everyone.
The matter has been referred to the state Attorney General’s Office
Jesús Sampériz: “It makes no sense not to build a treatment plant where you know there is a source of pollution”
The incident revealed the intensity of the pressure on the Quailes River due to flooding. agricultural and industrial activities Development in its banks and nearby areas.The main focus is the industrial areas of Ólvega and Ágreda and the fish farm of Vozmediano, all located on Soria soil and increased 70,000 cattle The entire river bank.
The municipalities of Agleda and Olvega have been repeatedly sanctioned for their negligence in purifying sewage industrial emissions These polygonal Metech (The Ministry of Ecological Transition) last year chose to refer the matter to the prosecutor’s office.
Included in the box Reservoir rot El Val is located on a tributary where water returns to Queiles and is the source of Miteco converted to wetland Faced with the difficulty, or rather the impossibility, of cleaning it and taking advantage of its flow.
This confluence of pollution factors, now coupled with the influence of protozoa, has resulted in Ecologists in action Report the deterioration of the river to the National Attorney General’s Office, which has so far not decided whether to conduct an investigation or transfer the investigation to the Prosecutor’s Office of the Provincial Court of Zaragoza and/or Soria.
“The goal is to study the entire Moncayo region. There are many actions and inactions, and inconsistencies and Anomaliescompetent authorities,” explained Jesus Samperiz, from environmental groups. “It doesn’t make sense not to set up a treatment plant where you know there is a source of pollution,” he stressed.
“In some places and some provinces, pollution has occurred unconsciously. whose effects have been felt by others The underlying body of water has no ability to intervene in its resolution,” the complaint states, adding that “the quality of the water and its uses may be limited by the presence of such protozoa.”
More than 11,000 residents affected, 16,800 waiting
Initial solutions include Tarazona residents purchasing mineral water
quantity pretentious Due to the risk of oral water, it is located in the following environments: 11,000since 11,777 people were registered in the four municipalities of Zaragoza, although in the coming days This number may increase Another 16,834.
As some sources point out, if the communities consisting of Malón in Zaragoza and Cintruénigo and Corella in Navarra were forced Reactivate capture Located at the same location in Quayles, other towns would be affected if existing reserves were depleted. The presence of protozoa in water does not prevent it from being used for cleaning and cleaning, or for cooking if it is first boiled for ten minutes.
Chances of protozoa arriving Ebro Although Aragonese government sources explain that once in the channel, the risk virtually disappears because dilute Due to its greater flow, the flow at noon last Thursday was 25,000 liters per second, while its tributaries were at 442 liters.
this initial solution include buy mineral water Provided by the residents of Tarazona, the town council then provided water tanks, which were then activated for self-service with potable water.
“Buying mineral water to distribute to neighbors is can not afford For a municipal council like ours, because of its high cost,” noted Mayor Torreras, who was the first to make the request to the provincial council drinking water tankalthough the public health department vetoed them before offering other products regulated by the district administration.
Analysis points to a fish farm
On Tuesday, October 3, the Aragonese government begins Clear unknowns Results of analysis of Quailes water by dissemination laboratory sampling Supervised by seprona National Guard: “At the source of the river, the results were negative; downstream from the fish farm (Alevines del Moncayo, Soria Vozmediano), the results were positive; downstream from the town of Vozmediano, the results were positive Positive result.”
This focuses suspicion on trout farm A subsidiary of French multinational group Gruope Aqualande, it has long been viewed by environmentalists and residents of the region as a major point of deterioration The water quality of the Kells River is the second largest spring-fed river in Europe, after the Rhine.
The Aragonese government has yet to provide further details of the analysis, but water park Reference is made to an “official statement with appropriate explanation” which remains to be distributed following the request people Their version of events and the results of any analysis they might have performed on the trout.
Will trout contaminate rivers with biological agents?
Is it possible for fish farms like Vozmediano to emit Cryptosporidium easily influenced affect public health?
The incident revealed several unresolved issues in the region
“This discovery zoonotic species E. coli in trout specimens (common and rainbow trout) may have implications for public health, as it represents a risk of infection for fishermen and food handlers,” concludes the biologist’s doctoral thesis. Serra Cuso Perezfrom the University of San Diego, is one of the most accurate works on the subject and dates from four years ago.
Researchers outline ‘how contamination of rivers with this intestinal parasite is responsible’ human activity” and noted that “high parasite loads were detected in the specimens studied” “indicating natural infection For the above species CryptosporidiumCharacteristics typical of mammals are possible in these salmonids”.
In research they are studied 613 Trout specimen Common fish species in 44 Galician rivers from 10 hydrological basins and 360 rainbow of fish farms. It included the detection of eight other parasites in fish, with parasites more common in fry than in adult fish due to fish’s less developed immune systems.
Anyway, this episode shows Several unresolved issues The area: Discharges from fish farming and the deterioration of almost all 17 kilometers of the Queles channel between Soria and Navarre.
In this sense, the Ebro Hydrological Plan sets targets, albeit by 2027, “to improve the control and discharge of wastewater from fish farms, especially in the case of catchments with downstream uses, such as supplies Condition Logroño and downstream uses of Queiles medium soundincluding the quality of the El Val reservoir”.
Use UV light and/or avoid fish farms
While improvements in control have come, if it does come, the three autonomous governments will be slightly relieved by the fact that the Ministry of Health is taking on the task of coordinating the matter as its non-community conditionsresearch from Aragon two lines of action.
For the Aragonese government, installing water treatment plants is a “more flexible and economical” measure
One of them is to equip municipalities with water treatment plant Equipped with a UV projector, this is the only known method of killing protozoa (although not suitable for naturally flowing bodies of water such as rivers).
Another approach is to provide drinking water to neighbors as long as protozoa persist in the supply network. put upin four months and at a cost of three million euros, a new water collection In the same Quils, but upstream of the fish farm. A passive approach would amount to assuming that their emissions, although unpurified but approved, would put residents in the area at biological risk.
The Aragonese government announced: “Work will begin simultaneously on both proposals, which from a technical point of view will be led by the Aragonese Water Institute.” Your statement shows your location priority: Installation of water treatment plants UV rays This is a “more flexible and economical” measure than building new pipelines.