The Castelló City Council and Facsa They officially present the new and updated protocol for actions due to rain for the municipality 2022-2023, which has the ultimate goal of establishing prevention measures and procedures for the teams and systems for evacuating runoff water, mainly in episodes of torrential rain and cold drops or DANA (Isolated Depression at High Levels), in Castelló.
During the last hydrometeorological year (from September 1, 2021 to August 31, 2022) the protocol has been activated on 11 occasions, remaining active for 58 days, 15% of the year, mainly during the months of March, April and May of this year 2022. As a noteworthy fact, the month of March this year has been the rainiest since records have been kept in the Valencian Community, highlighting the record of 90 liters per square meter on March 21, during the Magdalena festivities.
Furthermore, the city council has promoted new actions to improve the sanitation system during 2022 worth more than €500,000 and plans to carry out a series of actions in the sanitation system worth more than €4 million during 2022-2023.
The protocol includes more than 50 operations and actions to be carried out by service personnel at municipal facilities. The 28 main operations are activated when rainfall reaches 10 liters per square meter or if an orange or red precipitation alert is issued. The remaining actions are activated when rainfall exceeds 30 liters per square meter. The protocol concludes when the established levels are restored after the rainfall event.
In terms of infrastructure, Castelló has 12 Archimedes screw stormwater drainage stations, 143 drainage pumps, 28 generator sets, and 34 floodgates, with a total daily drainage capacity of 2.8 million cubic meters. Furthermore, thanks to the installation of protective screens for the receiving environment, each rainfall event prevents more than one ton of runoff from reaching the natural environment.
Finally, it should be noted that, for the activation and supervision of the protocol, the Castelló City Council has its own resources, as well as the material and professional resources used by Facsa As a contracting company for the Conservation and Maintenance Service of the pumping facilities of the sewer network and spill control in the municipality of Castellón de la Plana, the most important being three all-terrain vehicles, two light industrial vehicles, auxiliary and dewatering pumps of various power and flow rates, a fleet of seven sewer cleaning trucks, as well as 20 professionals to act in any emergency.
