Canal de Isabel II has discounted 1.5 million euros in water invoices to over 22,000 people affected by COVID-19

Paloma Martín, president of Canal de Isabel II 

During the 99-day state of alarm, the company supplied 129 cubic hectometres of water and carried out 2.5 million analyses

• The company launched a modification in its tariff in order to collaborate with affected companies, individuals and the self-employed
• Discounts may still be requested from the website www.cuentacontuagua.es, and are retroactive
• The public company, whose service is considered essential, has operated normally during the state of alarm

More than 22,000 companies, self-employed persons and individuals in the Autonomous Community of Madrid are already benefiting from the discounts approved by Canal de Isabel II as an economic support measure within the framework of the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The public company has already allocated almost one and a half million euros to these discounts, which can still be requested on the website www.cuentacontuagua.es and are applied retroactively.

For over 3 months, the company has carried out 100 % of its commercial activity by telephone or virtually. As of today, all the company's sales offices reopen by appointment, with a limited capacity and the mandatory use of masks. During these months, calls to the toll-free customer service line have increased by 30 % and letters received through the virtual office and email have grown by 140 %.

AN ESSENTIAL SERVICE DURING THE STATE OF ALARM

During the 99-day state of alarm, between 14 March and 20 June, the company supplied almost 129 billion litres of water to the 6.5 million residents of Madrid it serves. In order to control water quality, all laboratories have continued their activity. As far as drinking water is concerned, the company has carried out more than 13,000 physio-chemical and microbiological analyses on almost 1600 samples, in addition to more than the 2.5 million carried out by the automatic monitoring stations.

Regarding sanitation, the region’s 157 wastewater treatment plants operated by the company have treated 142 cubic hectometres of wastewater in this period, 12.5 % more than in the same period last year due to the heavy rainfall recorded mainly in April. Due to these rains, the storm tanks managed by Canal de Isabel II have retained 3.7 cubic hectometres of rainwater, which is subsequently sent to the wastewater treatment plants. From the treatment plants, 8 tonnes of solid waste have been removed from the pre-treatments, and the thermal driers of Loeches and Sur have treated and revalued nearly 90,000 tonnes of sludge.

Therefore, these facilities have continued to care for the Autonomous Community of Madrid’s rivers and streams: in fact, of those 142 cubic hectometres, 31 have undergone tertiary treatment for regeneration before returning to the river. The quality of the treated and regenerated water has been checked with more than 15,000 laboratory analyses and 1,500,000 in the automatic monitoring network.

Furthermore, these days these treatment facilities have generated more than 26 gigawatt/hour of electrical energy from their cogeneration and biogas generation processes, in line with the commitment to the circular economy embraced by Canal de Isabel II years ago.

Altogether, all of the company's renewable, high-efficiency power generation facilities, including thermal sludge drying cogeneration, hydroelectric power plants, photovoltaic facilities, microturbines and wastewater dumps, have produced more than 126 GWh of electricity. In fact, in April the company broke its historical record for energy self-production: it generated 27 % more energy than it consumed.

On the other hand, during the state of alarm, the Control Centre has addressed more than 12,000 actions, both programmed and related to service incidents, to guarantee the correct operation of the region’s supply and sanitation infrastructures.

About 1,000 of the company's employees have continued working in the field and in the facilities to ensure that the service provided to the more than 6 million people in Madrid continues operating normally. To this end, Canal has reinforced working from home, with more than 1,700 employees doing so. It has also taken measures to guarantee the health and safety of the entire workforce as a top priority in order ensure the proper operation of its facilities.

Canal de Isabel II was founded almost 170 years ago to supply water to the city of Madrid, and currently more than 2,800 employees work to provide services to more than 6 million people in the entire region. It is an innovative public company, a leader in its sector, and internationally recognised for its management of the integrated water cycle.