“The vacuum cleaner” that keeps the waters of the Port of Valencia clean

The Limpiamar vessel travels the inner waters of the docks every day to collect floating waste - August 17, 2020 The PAV manages the quality of the water with the removal of waste, the analysis of the water and the measurement of hydrocarbons The quality of the water in the Port is optimal, as shown by natural indicators such as clotxin breeding From Monday to Friday, first thing in the morning, the Limpiamar boat starts up, a “pelican” type boat that runs through all the interior waters of the Port of València to collect any floating debris that may be on the water surface. This system, together with the analytical control periodically carried out by the Valencia Port Authority (APV) of the interior waters of the three ports and the measurement of the presence of hydrocarbons are the filters that serve to manage the control of water quality. The Limpiamar, a boat of about ten meters in length, is in charge of keeping the waters of the Port clean thanks to the basket with which it has in the bow. Every day, she goes through each area and collects the objects she finds on the surface. The person in charge of the environment of the PAV, Santiago López explains that “we carry out a daily surveillance and cleaning of the floating waste that comes from the water surface. This waste is collected through this boat that has a basket in the bow and collects all floating waste and deposits it in a special tank. This waste is taken outside and is managed through an authorized manager”. Waste that is normally plastic, paper, wood or garbage that may accidentally fall from the docks or arrive from outside the Port. But the Limpiamar also acts to collect large waste such as "wooden logs of 5 meters in length that pose a risk to the navigation of boats," says Santiago Lòpez, who adds that on some occasions "dead cetacean bodies have also been removed. In this case, a protocol is activated through 112, also giving notice to the Oceanogràfic and the University of Valencia to study the causes of death and their origin ”. The activity of the Limpiamar is constant and acts like a vacuum cleaner that we can have in our home. “We go out from Monday to Friday and we are on call 24 hours a day in contact with the emergency control centre to go in exceptional cases such as large logs that pose a danger to the navigation of the boats,” says Jesús Ferrández, skipper of the Limpiamar. In addition to its daily role as a water quality watchdog, Limpiamar also works to extract floating objects from the old bed of the Túria River, which connects with the Port. The boat complements the anti-pollution barrier installed in this area that allows the daily collection of floating waste from the section of the old channel between the Oceanogràfic and the shipyard bridge where several rainwater collectors of the city converge and those that arrive to the channel due to the effect of the wind, preventing them from reaching the port or the beaches adjacent to the Pinedo and El Saler port area. Optimal water quality This permanent cleaning action of the water layer is complemented with physical-chemical analysis and monitoring of the hydrocarbon concentration. “We periodically perform a water quality control in the three ports following the water framework directive, the environmental quality control regulations and ROM 5.1, which is a specific instrument on how the port waters should be controlled. We control the water column with parameters such as temperature, the presence of hydrocarbons, chlorophylls or turbidity. In addition, we analyze chemical and heavy metal parameters both on the surface of the water and in the sediments that we collect from the seabeds, ”says the PAV's environmental officer. For Santiago López, “after 15 years carrying out an analytical control of the water quality, we can ensure that it is optimal. There are natural indicators such as the breeding of clotxins or Valencian oysters that show that the interior waters of the Port have a significant concentration of nutrients and phytoplankton and an optimal salinity for the growth and flavor of these mollusks”. Source: Autoridad Portuaria de Valencia (APV - Valenciaport, Port Authority of Valencia)

“The vacuum cleaner” that keeps the waters of the Port of Valencia clean

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“The vacuum cleaner” that keeps the waters of the Port of Valencia clean

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