Aqualia activates a contingency plan to guarantee the continuity of its services in the face of the situation generated by the coronavirus

In view of the situation generated by the COVID-19 virus crisis, Aqualia, a public water management services management company, has activated a Contingency Plan in order to limit and minimise the impact generated by the coronavirus crisis on its activity, guarantee the maintenance of services with the highest quality standards and protect employees. This plan responds to a dynamic strategy and is subject to permanent updating by the monitoring committee. All measures are being taken in coordination with the public administrations, owners of urban water services (municipalities), as well as with the health authorities.

Total normality is maintained with regard to guaranteeing the quality of the tap water, since the usual and normal disinfection treatments that have been applied in the services of our country are totally effective in eliminating the virus.  This is acknowledged in the recent World Health Organization (WHO) technical report "Water, sanitation, hygiene and waste management for COVID-19", published on 3 March. This document includes the main guidelines of the international agency on water and sanitation regarding viruses, and also on coronavirus. As the report states, disinfected water eliminates the virus, so that the water purification treatments applied daily in urban water services in Spain are effective in eliminating the coronavirus.

The Plan developed and implemented by Aqualia includes indications regarding mobility. Group training activities have been cancelled, as well as all meetings of more than four people. Nor will there be any collective visits to the workplaces by any group. Trips by employees have been suspended, except for those that are essential. The Plan includes the reduction of the presence of workers in the usual places of work when possible, the prioritisation of teleworking and the provision of the necessary technical means to facilitate it.

With regard to hygiene measures, a series of initiatives are included, including the reinforcement of individual hygiene measures, the sending of updated information to workers, the use of personal protection equipment (PPE), the frequent cleaning of vehicles and facilities assigned to the services, and extraordinary measures for access to offices serving the public, such as limiting the capacity of offices or increasing the physical separation between waiting and service posts. To this end, the company is providing employees with gels or hydro-alcoholic solutions.

Aqualia's Plan includes the coordination with the local Administration for the closure of the public service offices, prioritising telephone service and promoting the use of other communication channels such as the app "aqualia contact" or the virtual office located on Aqualia's website (www.aqualia.com). If there is any emergency that requires personal attention, the people in charge of the offices will attend to the users by appointment.

With regard to specific operations in the different locations, ad hoc measures have also been taken, such as the suspension of holidays and other non-essential permits, the establishment of checkpoints to cope with possible minimum services, modification of shifts, flexible hours, or not taking internal readings, among other measures. All these instructions are aimed at protecting the company's workers and maintaining the usual services. In addition, Aqualia is organising a job exchange with the aim of activating it in the event of urgent needs. At key facilities, operational maintenance plans have been defined and stocks of reagents and other important items are monitored. At these facilities, priority will be given to repair tasks and urgent incidents.

From Aqualia and in view of the extraordinary situation that is being experienced, an appeal is made to the tranquillity and individual responsibility of the citizens. The company's team continues to carry out the usual functions and tasks in order to guarantee the normal provision of public services related to the integral water cycle.