Dalias is a little coast town in Almeria, Andalucia in the south of Spain, close to Granada. The area is one of the driest in Europe. Still, the subtropical desert climate, the arid soils and water shortages have not been an impediment to Almeria farmers and through hard work they have turned the area into the orchard of Europe.
Intensive horticulture
In Andalucia, 26,500 hectares are used for intensive horticulture with an average productivity of 9 kg/m2, an export rate at 60%, an annual production of 2,5m tonnes and a turnover of 1,8m Euros. Almeria’s main production area is vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, eggplants, watermelons, melons, lettuces, etc. which go straight to the European homes.
Efficient irrigation
Almeria farmers have overcome the difficulties imposed by weather and have succeeded in developing one of the world’s most efficient irrigation systems, and the construction of a new desalination plant will help improving the economic situation in the region.The over-exploitation of aquifers in the area has forced the government to seek alternative supplies for irrigation and drinking water. This is one of the projects of ACUAMED, a public company which is part of the Ministry of Environment. The net production volume for the new plant will be 30 hm3 per year.
AVK deliveries
The contractor is a joint venture which comprises the companies SANDO, VEOLIA AGUA, VEOLIA WATER SYSTEM, INYPSA and CRESCENCIO PEREZ.
AVK VALVULAS S.A. has supplied valves from the InterApp-Valcom S.A. factory to this project:
- DESPONIA butterfly with disc in superduplex 1.4573, DN65-DN1400 actuated with different drivers
- AVK centric full lug butterfly valve in PN25 with disc in duplex DN300-DN900
- DYNAXE, PN40, DN100-DN350
Improving the area
Improving the irrigation facilities of Dalias included two additional projects: “Mejora de Regadío Poniente Almeriense” and “Balsas de Dalias”. The constructors of these projects were SOGEOSA and GRUPO TEJERA which are two of the most important construction companies in the area.
AVK VALVULAS S.A. has supplied gate valves and butterfly valves from Wouter Witzel Eurovalve and InterApp for these projects.
More than 700 AVK butterfly valves in Dalias
In total, the delivery from AVK VALVULAS to the projects improving the area of Dalias was more than 700 butterfly valves with actuators and other AVK products.
