Malaga provincial authority awards its biggest ever contract to improve water supply networks and prevent leaks

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The Diputación has voted, with only the abstention of Vox, to allocate 10.8 million to 71 municipalities for the installation of smart meters, leak detectors and 600 kilometres of pipelines

Antonio M. Romero

Malaga

Thursday, 18 December 2025, 19:45

Malaga provincial authority approved the awarding of the largest contract in its history on 17 December. It concerns the improvement of the water supply network to combat leaks and the effects of droughts by improving supply distribution networks.

The Diputación, with the votes in favour of the Partido Popular ruling team and the opposition (PSOE and Con Málaga) and the only abstention of Vox, approved to award the contract to Acciona Agua SA for 10.8 million euros. The company will be responsible for different actions to improve efficiency and sustainability in the integral water cycle in 71 municipalities in the province through the implementation of digital systems that will allow monitoring and optimising the use of water resources.

This initiative is part of the Málaga Aqua Rural 5.0 project, endowed with 15.5 million and co-financed with almost ten million by European Next Generation funds. President of the provincial authority Francisco Salado, who reminded the council of the study carried out in 2023 in 74 municipalities, which detected the loss of 20,5000 cubic metres per day (7.45 million cubic metres per year with which a population of 100,000 people could be supplied for a year).

Technological equipment

The contract includes the installation of technological equipment in some 200 municipal water catchments to monitor water levels, flows and quality in real time by means of probes in wells and boreholes.

It also includes consumption control by sectorising both the upstream supply network and the distribution network by measuring flow rates and controlling leaks using water leak detectors and leak locators; 210 headwater tanks in towns will be controlled and up to 600 kilometres of upstream network pipelines, including catchment sources and tanks, will be checked by several brigades equipped with acoustic leak detection technology.

In addition, the contract plans the installation of 6,000 meters as part of a pilot plan for remote reading of municipal meters for large consumers and vulnerable groups, mainly identified as consumers who are difficult to access, located mainly in rural areas. Remote management and water quality monitoring systems will be incorporated in 17 wastewater pumping stations and 49 wastewater treatment plants.

Monitoring of industrial discharges

In addition, monitoring of industrial discharges will be carried out in eight municipalities that have an inventory of industrial discharges: Almargen, Cañete la Real, Casabermeja, Colmenar, Fuente de Piedra, Humilladero, Pizarra and Sierra de Yeguas.

In terms of energy efficiency, photovoltaic installations are planned in catchments and pumping stations to reduce dependence on conventional energy sources and a new GIS system will be implemented for the geospatial management of water cycle infrastructure, offering various technological options, from direct access to spatial databases, the publication of geographic services and applications for the exploitation of geospatial data.

Salado stated that in a province like Malaga, with recurrent periods of drought, water management is "fundamental" and all public administrations must be involved, as this has a direct impact both on the population and on a sector as important as agriculture and livestock.

Francisco Salado considers refurbishment and monitoring of the pipes, channels and tanks a 'priority' in order to prevent water waste

For this reason, he considers refurbishment and monitoring of the pipes, channels and tanks a "priority" in order to prevent water waste. "This project aims to remedy the fact that many of the municipalities covered by this action do not have tools for measuring flow rates, pressure, water quality, telemetry systems, monitoring and remote reading, nor do they have the technological means or digital supports to guarantee the management of the different phases of the complete water cycle," he said.

He stated that the ultimate goal of the project is to achieve precise, automated and efficient control of each phase of the water cycle through actions that cover catchment and discharge, including storage, distribution, wastewater treatment, as well as the visualisation and management of all this information through centralised digital platforms.