Girona City Council has made the decision this week to close all independent connections that supply drinking water to private swimming pools and to irrigate gardens of more than 300 square meters in the city.
The restriction, which the City Council has already notified the affected residents, aims to "guarantee responsible use of water," according to the City Council in a press release.
Specifically, the measure will affect the owners of fixed and newly built swimming pools, whom the law requires from the end of 2022 to have an independent connection, separate from the installation of the domestic supply. It is also mandatory for owners of non-artificial orchards of more than 300 square meters. In total there are 65 residents who will be affected by this measure.
This is a requirement that the municipal regulations approved at the end of 2022 and that is mandatory in all new swimming pools that are built. The measure, which is included in the municipality's Per Sequera Emergency Plan and in the regulations of the municipal drinking water supply and distribution service, allows the City Council to close the tap, which is what it will do this week.
The restriction will be in force while the prohibitions on filling and refilling swimming pools with drinking water from the supply and distribution network last.
In emergency scenario 1 of the drought decree, in which the city of Girona is immersed, the total or partial filling of any type of swimming pool is prohibited. It is only allowed to do it with seawater, as long as the pool is not connected to the supply and sanitation networks, since this type of water can damage the operation of the treatment plant.
Restrictions that do not apply to sports and therapeutic use pools, which can be filled completely or partially as long as they meet a series of criteria. For example, covered swimming pools registered in the Generalitat's census of sports facilities can be partially filled as long as saving measures equivalent to the volume of water used for filling them are applied, such as closing showers or other measures.
