In addition to being a leader as a golf tourist destination in Europe and in the Mediterranean, the Costa del Sol is also at the helm in an important environmental aspect: the irrigation of golf courses with recycled water.
The public company, Acosol, is the company that supplies the most recycled water in Europe for the irrigation of golf courses. It currently supplies 37 courses (which adds up to over five hundred holes) using around 7,000 million litres a year. It is also investing millions to extend the radius of action of its supply network.
Although the regulations in Spain state that new golf courses must be irrigated with recycled water and existing courses must do so as far as possible, in practice, this requirement is not always easy to fulfil, as it is subject to the existence of purification plants nearby and pipes that take the water to the golf course. These are costly infrastructures. The Costa del Sol will continue moving forward in this challenge which it considers to be essential when it comes to reusing water resources.
Obtaining data on the irrigation of golf courses in Spain and in other European countries is not an easy task, as there is no entity responsible for compiling such information. However, using the information collected by course associations, federations, public and private companies supplying recycled water and official bodies, it can be confirmed that Acosol is the public company that supplies the most regenerated water in Europe to irrigate golf courses.
Spain, due to its mainly dry climate, particularly in the areas with highest level of golf development (Mediterranean coast), cannot afford to use huge amounts of water from the public network for the irrigation of golf courses. For this reason, the regional authorities are promoting the use of recycled water to supply golf facilities.
Andalusia is the autonomous community with the largest surface area of golf courses irrigated with purified water. There is even a complex on the Costa del Golf, Alcaidesa Resort, on the Gibraltar Course, that has invested a large amount of money on the installation of its own purification plant to obtain recycled water to irrigate its two 18-hole courses. The Golf Coast far exceeds one hundred courses, of which two thirds, around seventy, are located on the Costa del Sol.
Acosol www.acosol.es
Costa del Sol Tourist Board www.visitcostadelsol.com