DGEG detects “serious irregularities” in the Caldas da Rainha spa

A Directorate-General for Energy and Geology (DGEG) detected “high-gravity situations” at the Hospital Thermal das Caldas da Rainha, closed since August due to the detection of ‘pseudomonas’, and accuses the municipality of having omitted microbiological contamination to the guardianship.

The Hospital Thermal das Caldas da Rainha, granted by the State to the municipality in 2015, suspended thermal treatments on 20 August, by determination of the local Health Authority, following the detection of a colony of the bacterium ‘Pseudomonas aeruginosa’ in a technical collector.

The suspension of the treatments should have been “communicated in time to guardianship” but, in a letter sent to the City Council of Caldas da Rainha (leaded by the independent movement “Let’s Change”), on August 27, DGEG, claims to have only been aware of the situation “by the media”, in an omission that it considered “particularly serious”.

In view of this breach of the law, DGEG has given the municipality in the district of Leiria a period of five days to submit a detailed report and analytical reports on the detection of microbiological contamination.

It was based on this report, sent by the technical director of Hospital Termal, Rita Carvalho, that DGEG identified it “high-gravity situations” in the management and exploration of the Thermal Hospital and accused the technical direction of “discovery of the legal and regulatory framework” in force.

Among the irregularities detected, DGEG points out the use of a reserve capture (JK1) to feed the thermal system that “in no circumstances” could have been authorized by the hospital’s technical management.

In addition to the authorisation being “only DGEG”, this body considers the situation even more serious because “this capture is subject to a specific monitoring programme following the detection of contamination by organic compounds”.

Irregularities also extend to an intervention to replace the submersible pump, the AC2 hole [one of the thermal water uptake holes] carried out without authorisation from DGEG.

In the communication sent to the camera, DGEG informs that “these particularly serious facts” are the subject of an internal analysis “for the purposes of assessing the appropriate measures” and warns that thermal treatments can only be resumed with their express authorisation.

But for this, he warns, the municipality will have to present at least three consecutive weekly bacteriological analyses “totally compliant” and a maintenance plan and correction of deficiencies.

The Lusa agency questioned the Queen's House of Caldas, which has yet to provide further clarification.

The position of DGEG was made public following a request for clarification by PSD councilors on the closure of the thermal hospital, which in August had already required the hearing of the company responsible for maintaining the plumbing.

At the time, the PSD accused the executive of delays in reporting closure to the competent authorities refusing to accept “that a matter of this size be addressed through partial information, corrected only as new questions arise”.

The Hospital Thermal das Caldas da Rainha is part of the state-acquired thermal heritage in 2015.

Before granting the municipality, the hospital was the subject of several closures, the longest of which in 1997, when treatments were suspended for three and a half years due to the presence of ‘pseudomonas’.

Treatments were suspended again for different periods in 2004, 2005, 2009 and 2012.

In 2016, already under chamber management, a new totally independent thermal water distribution network was implemented, replacing the old pipes to avoid further contamination.