Funchal completely eliminates asbestos from water network

The previous fibre cement infrastructure has been replaced with cast iron pipes

On 3 September, the Funchal municipal website informed the public that the project for renovating the water supply network in the city had been completed. That means that all of the older fibre cement infrastructure had been removed and replaced with iron cast pipes.

The entire modernization project cost 2 million euros

The news was announced by the mayor of Funchal, Miguel Silva Gouveia, who attended the conclusion of the project at the Caminho da Lombada, in the parish of Monte. The renovated section of the water supply network was then set to start functioning the very same day.

Silva Gouveia said, on the occasion, “today we concluded the last contract to replace existing fibre cement networks in the distribution of drinking water in the municipality of Funchal, in an intervention that amounted to around 570 thousand euros and which definitively eradicates asbestos from our water networks”.

“In addition to replacing the networks with a cast iron network, we also installed pressure regulating valves to have better pressure management in these steeper areas, and we installed 12 fire marks along the route, providing the infrastructure to fight urban fires in this forest patch that has suffered heavily in recent years”, he added.

The amount cited by the mayor referred to the last section. Overall, the project represented an investment of 2 million euros, financed by community funds. Additionally, the Madeira Electricity Company upgraded the street environment by placing overhead cables underground.

The mayor concluded: “We have completed a very important project in safeguarding the health of our residents, eliminating substances that are dangerous and harmful to people from the networks, but also improving the quality of service, with a reduction in water losses”.