Volunteers clean-up abandoned reservoir in San Pedro Alcantara

THE area known as El Salto del Agua which is near to the industrial estate of San Pedro de Alcantara has suffered from pollution problems to a reservoir that is adjacent to houses there.
In the late 19^th Century, a hydraulic device was installed in the area which used the flow of water to generate electricity for the Colonia Agricola de San Pedro (Agricultural Collective) and a reservoir was built to store water.
This reservoir (or swamp as it is referred to locally) has been classified as being a protected engineering site and effectively left for decades with little attention to keep it clean or healthy despite repeated requests to the Council by residents.
Now, a group of volunteers made up of members of the Neighbourhood Association, Ecologists in Action, Marbella Baseball Club (whose pitch is nearby), Podemos and residents of San Pedro have decided to do something about the problem.

They spent the weekend of May 15 and 16 getting into the reservoir and removing algae and huge amounts of weed as well as cleaning up the land area surrounding the water and introducing aquatic plants which will purify the water naturally.

They hope that this will encourage wildlife to nest and also ducks to return so that rather than have a rank and unpleasant outlook, residents will be able to enjoy a much more attractive vista and the sight of nature returning to the area.