The contract for creating a new reservoir at Plakalona, 10 km south west of Kolymbari, and the accompanying supply network was signed on 23rd January between the contractor and the Northern Axis Water Board (DEYAVA). The reservoir of 1,000 cu m, together with a 400 m connecting main, has a budget of €482,713, to be funded by the Public Expenditure Programme. The deadline for completion is 18 months, although it is expected that the project will be completed earlier.
Speaking to the press after the signing, DEYAVA’s president Eftychis Mavrogenis described the building of the reservoir as a necessary move. It will serve Kolymbari and the inland areas behind it, where it will relieve “the great pressures on the existing network, which is being replaced”. He noted that the new reservoir at Plakalona will be much lower than the existing one at Koprana, which means that it will consume less energy and there will be fewer losses. “We will have a brand new network, with new reservoirs and the citizens of Platanias will enjoy a modern piece of infrastructure which will undoubtedly be very superior.”
“The contract which we have signed is essentially supplementary to the major works which we have carried out recently and is incorporated into DEYAVA’s planning so as to provide new networks with increased quantities of water. Networks in which water losses will be minimised or disappear,” the mayor of Platanias Giannis Malandrakis commented. According to the mayor, one network was completed in the eastern section of the Municipality, “where Alikianos after a long time is now drinking clean water from new pipes”, while the other network was completed in the western section, with 6 km of pipes from Koleni to Kolymbari.
“With the reservoir which we are now building and the network of water supply pipes, we are achieving first of all the balancing of supplies, especially in the areas with major consumption in the zone of Kolymbari beach, while at the same time the Koprana reservoir will be supplied with the quantities needed to cover the needs of Kolymbari,” the mayor said. It is the aim of the Municipality and DEYAVA to replace the supply pipe network in the near future.
Mr Malandrakis and Mr Mavrogenis thanked Mrs Dora Bakogiannis for her interest and her role in securing funding for the works.
DEYAVA a finalist for innovation award
The Northern Axis Water Board has been named as a finalist in one of the categories of awards made for 2024 by the Innovation in Politics Institute. An international NGO with offices and partner organisations in 21 European countries including Greece, the Institute aims to “identify, develop and apply innovations in politics – to strengthen democracy in Europe and beyond”. Using a citizen’s jury of over 1,000 Europeans, it has since 2017 been making annual awards in eight categories: Democracy, Climate Protection, Democracy Technologies, Government Improvement, Social Cohesion, Local Development, Education, and Party Innovation (the latter omitted for 2024).
This year the Municipality of Platanias and DEYAVA submitted an application in the category of Government Improvement, for DEYAVA’s electronic system of locating and monitoring leaks in its internal supply network. The project has been chosen by the Jury of 1086 European citizens as one of the 10 finalists in its category. Out of 314 eligible projects, the jury chose 70 finalists – 10 in each category. The winners will be announced at the Institute’s Awards Gala at the Maritime Museum of Barcelona on 2nd May 2024.
Funding of €540,000 for the project was secured through the Water Management section of the EEA Grants programme, which represents the contribution of Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway to reducing economic and social disparities and to strengthening bilateral relations with 15 EU countries, among them Greece. The remainder will come from national resources through the Public Expenditure Programme.
As reported in the Municipality’s press release, the mayor of Platanias Giannis Malandrakis noted that at present the Municipality is undertaking works of telemetry, energy upgrading-monitoring and modernising of the domestic water system with a total budget of €6,542,192, not including VAT. These works, in conjunction with DEYAVA’s technical programme, will bring significant improvements in water management and economies of water resources and energy, while at the same time the system of remote monitoring of the water supply system will be completed throughout the Municipality. The mayor described the achievement as a springboard for further activities in the planning and implementation of the Municipality’s works, while greater efforts to achieve higher aims will continue in the coming period.
DEYAVA’s president Eftychis Mavrogenis said that the implementation of telemetry for monitoring leaks represents a further step in modernising the remote control of the domestic water system, with the aim of reducing water losses and providing intelligent management of water resources.
(Haniotika Nea, Platanias.gr, Innovation in Politics Institute)