AySA has just put into operation an important network that is expected to
improve the drinking water service
in a good part of San Antonio de Padua and Merlo, which historically suffer problems of
low pressure and cuts
, especially in the hottest months, when the consumption increases.
After one of these inconveniences, which left thousands of residents without water during a weekend in January, the work of the state company intensified and three months later, the Refuerzo Merlo Primary
Network
is finished and working, after exceeding the Technical tests.
Thus, an important flow of drinking water is added to complement that which comes from existing perforations in the district.
In this way, for the first time the service comes from the
Buenos Aires water treatment plant
on Figueroa Alcorta Avenue, which is supplied from the Rio de La Plata, instead of being extracted from local underground wells.
The journey of more than 40 kilometers that the water makes from the Palermo drinking water treatment plant to Merlo.
The new network to stabilize the supply reaches the Party through a six-meter-diameter pipeline that is
more than 40 kilometers long
.
It is the distance from its water collection point in the
Río de la Plata
to Merlo.
Strictly speaking, what was done was to extend the pipe that already reached Ituzaingó, from the neighboring party, with a route of 3.7 kilometers through Merlense territory.
The starting point of the extension was the intersection of Thorne and Almagro streets, in Ituzaingó.
From there, the underground conduit was built to Leandro Alem and Pueyrredón, already in Merlo, allowing for the first time the arrival of surface water (from the river) to the Partido.
An operator manipulates a key at the junction of the pipeline that leaves Avenioda Figueroa Alcorta with the Merlo home network.
Now, once the purification process has passed at the
General San Martín Plant
, in front of the Palermo lakes, the water travels through the underground conduit to the
Morón Elevator Station.
From that point and by pumping systems, the primary network is once again promoted to Ituzaingó to finally connect with the new "Refuerzo Merlo" that covers almost all of
San Antonio de Padua and the downtown area
of the district's head town, in addition to
a Merlo Norte area.
Finally, the new main pipe supplies a pressure regulating and flow limiting chamber that distributes the water through the fine networks that reach the houses.
The "Merlo Reinforcement" was built in one year and after technical tests, in the first days of April 2023 it began to work.
The almost four-kilometer-long conduit was made of GRP, a fiberglass-reinforced polyester, a plastic material that makes it more resistant to pressure and has a longer useful life, specified the AySA technical area.
The works also included, according to "the construction of inspection chambers and the installation of valves of different types and diameters that optimize the operation of the network."
"Now the constant monitoring and permanent control of the system, to later advance in the renewal of the secondary networks and improve the distribution in the area," they report.
With the extension of the conduit, for the first time, the drinking water network of Merlo is supplied with "superficial water" from the Río de la Plata: until now, it was exclusively from wells.
And they add, "Beyond the fact that Refuerzo Merlo is
the most important work that was done in the Partido,
as it will also coexist with the existing well system, new perforations will continue to be added to reinforce the most remote areas."
One year of works
In
the company they emphasize that the tasks started in January 2022 and a year later they were finished.
During February and March, disinfection and hydraulic tests were carried out, to
put it into service last week.
"It is a work that comes to bring surface water (from the river, and not from groundwater) for the first time in the history of the networks of the Merlo district. Historically it was supplied from a groundwater system, that is, from perforations" , pointed out Juan Manuel Carlés, Aysa's operational manager in the municipality.
And he added: "This work comes to
improve pressure and flow in the towns of San Antonio de Padua, Merlo Centro and Merlo Norte
".
As reported, the Merlo Reinforcement will provide a water flow equivalent to 25 groundwater wells.
“It is the most important work at the drinking water level that the district will receive.
What we are looking for, in the short term, is to enter the flow of
water equivalent to 7 wells in order to normalize the system and the service we are providing today.
Then, and to the extent that the different works are carried out, the idea is to supply other sectors with a greater flow”, added Carlés.
In a second stage, the flow can be gradually increased through this conduit.
"In total, it will bring to the Party the water equivalent to
25 underground water wells
, which will allow expanding the reach of surface water to
other locations in the district
," they detail.
AySA will also build new groundwater extraction wells to strengthen the network in the neighborhoods furthest from the center of Merlo.
The fact that the water comes from the river, and does not have to be extracted from the groundwater, has an important additional advantage, linked to the energy problem that is also repeated in the summer.
When there are power outages, the groundwater supply system is
directly affected.
With the arrival of surface water, on the other hand, in the event that any drilling is put
out of service due to lack of electricity
, the network will continue to have
water flow,
because it will be compensated with the flow of the new conduit.
“The work does not leave aside the current system, it comes to enhance and improve it.
The service that we are providing in Merlo with the wells that capture water from the
Puelche aquifer
, has guaranteed quality and level as long as their electrical dependence is stable.
The surface water that arrives through this new conduit
makes it possible to cushion
any power outage that may arise in the network of wells.
It is an improvement in control, in response and in the stability of the service”, concludes Carlés.
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