CALVIA BEACH CLOSED BY SEWAGE PLANT FAULT

CALVIA council was forced to close Palmira beach in Paguera yesterday because of a fault in one of the pumps at a Paguera sewage treatment plant. According to the council, as soon as being informed of the fault, the emergency system was brought into operation, which involves diverting sewage water to the flow of water which comes out near the Palmira beach. As soon as the fault had been repaired council engineers analysed the quality of the sea water in order to confirm that it is safe to swim in. Last night the council said that all the necessary checks have been carried out and that the beach will re-open as usual this morning. While the water quality at the vast majority of Calvia's beaches is good, quality of the water off the beach at Palma Nova dropped slightly last week. However, the councils have a policy of carrying out weekly checks on all beaches and a report earlier this summer which claimed that the water quality in the Balearics had fallen, was fiercely contested by local Mayors. However, the alleged poor quality of some of the water off beaches in Majorca has been one of the reasons given for the fall in the number of German tourists, along with a number of other reasons.