Viaqua will manage the municipal water service in Pontevedra until 2038.

This is a key strategic concession for the company in Galicia and one which it will continue to manage for two more decades, having won the public tender from among the dozens of companies that took part.

The contract was signed in Pontevedra Town Hall on 20 September, attended by the city’s mayor, Miguel Ángel Fernández Lores, the Councillor for Finance and the Environment, Raimundo González Carballo, the Viaqua CEO, Ismael Olmedo, and the General Manager of Viaqua, Julio Masid.

During the event, the mayor stated that the council was very ‘happy with the contract, as it marked an improvement in the quality and quantity of service’. Fernández Lores also thanked Viaqua for the effort in presenting a financial offer that would mark ‘a leap forward in improving the service to the benefit of the residents of Pontevedra’, introducing ‘new technologies’ and providing major improvements at the most competitive price among all the Galician cities. Similarly, Julio Masid underlined the focus on new technologies and the major investment on the part of Viaqua to make the city a ‘showcase’ of efficient and sustainable water management for other cities. Ismael Olmedo also noted that the public-private management model chosen by Pontevedra is ‘more efficient’, as competition among companies entering bids meant they all had to present their best possible offers.

The 500 actions the company plans to carry out in the next 20 years include supplying the new Montecelo hospital, completing the sewer system in rural areas, opening its own certified laboratory for testing water quality, building a new mini power station and controlling the 240 fountains in the city