A new biological tank, a new UV disinfection system, enabling the reuse of treated water, a sludge silo, which, among other things, reduces odors, as well as the implementation of cogeneration that allows energy consumption to be reduced by between 30 and 40%.
These are just some of the new features of the remodeled Lagos Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP), whose works, which cost 17 million euros, were inaugurated this Wednesday, June 5th, World Environment Day, by Minister Maria of Graça Carvalho, who oversees this sector.
António Eusébio, president of the company Águas do Algarve, which promoted the investment, highlighted that the renovation was so profound that «it is practically a new WWTP».
One of the problems that was resolved was that of the “inflow of salt water”, which “limited treatment in the WWTP, namely biological treatment”, preventing the reuse of treated water for other purposes, such as watering public spaces, washing streets and containers, watering golf courses or even, in the future, agricultural fields. According to António Eusébio, a large investment was also made in “minimizing odors”, putting an end to one of the problems that generated the most complaints from the population.
The president of Águas do Algarve also added that, with regard to cogeneration (production of biogas to generate electricity), there was a «doubling of digestion capacity», which will allow «recovering more than 50% of the cost of energy». But the objective is even more ambitious: “to reach energy neutrality by 2030”.
António Eusébio also highlighted that the investment made already allows the treated water «with mixing» to be reused.
For his part, António Martins, engineer responsible for Águas do Algarve, recalled that the Lagos WWTP was built by the Chamber «around 40 years ago», having been remodeled in 2001. The company Águas do Algarve (AdA) «started operating it in 2004».
However, according to the AdA, it presented «significant limitations in terms of biological treatment, namely undue inflows of salt water that cause the destabilization of biological treatment, biological treatment with insufficient organ capacity for the influent loads, making it impossible to comply with discharge limits of treated effluent, capacity of existing bodies in the solid phase insufficient for current sludge production, without odor treatment, among other factors».
With an investment of 17 million euros, financed by POSEUR (approved in Overbooking) worth approximately 10 million euros, the WWTP has the capacity to treat 18.500 cubic meters of wastewater per day, equivalent to 138 thousand inhabitants. These are effluents from the municipality of Lagos, the parishes of São Gonçalo de Lagos, Luz, Odiáxere and part of the Union of Parishes of Bensafrim and Barão de São João.
The inauguration, which began with a brief visit by the Minister of the Environment to the new infrastructure, namely the biological tank, was accompanied by a few whiffs of bad smells. This led Hugo Pereira, president of the Lagos City Council, to hope that «this bad smell nightmare, which has lasted for decades, will finally be overcome».
«Lagos, in recent years, has gone through unpleasant moments: we had a problem that was here, in this WWTP, which was focused on», highlighted the mayor. It was “sewage in, sewage out. And everything ended up at our Bensafrim river, which led to the loss of three blue flags, with the negative effects this had on the tourist image of Lagos», added Hugo Pereira.
The mayor of Lagos also expressed his pleasure at the fact that the municipality can now “move forward withimplementation of the Detailed Plan for Paul da Ribeira de Bensafrim, which could not be implemented without the WWTP problems being resolved».
These are, highlighted Hugo Pereira, 6 million euros of investment to «clean and renaturalize these banks» and Paul de Lagos and return it to the enjoyment of visitors and the population.
For her part, the Minister of Environment and Energy said that this WWTP is "an infrastructure of vital importance for the region", to guarantee "quality tourism", "gains in quality of life for the population" and for the "possibility of reuse of treated water", albeit with some restrictions.
This is because, highlighted Maria da Graça Carvalho, «this is one of the priorities in the field of water that is very important for us: «increase water efficiency and promote the rational use of water», «reduce water losses in water supply systems public and agricultural", "promote the use of treated wastewater", "strengthen the resilience of hydraulic systems through interconnections, increase the capacity of existing facilities, and only lastly, if what is behind is not enough, evaluate the need for new facilities. And this is already the case in the Algarve».
«The Government identified, from the outset, the issue of water in the Algarve as a major priority. In fact, proof of this is my presence here, as part of World Environment Day. It was not by chance that I chose this visit and that I chose to link this to several visits and activities in the Algarve», highlighted the minister.
«In just over a month, this is the third time I've been to the Algarve because of the water», he added.
Carmona Rodrigues, recently sworn-in president of Águas de Portugal, who performed his first act in these new roles in Lagos, highlighted what has changed in the perception of the problem of water resources in the Algarve region: «the Algarve is a region that It has always been plagued by problems of lack of water, which, a few years ago, seemed sporadic, but which have now become permanent».
Hence the need for investments to reinforce water efficiency and resilience in the region, either through PRR funds or through a new investment package, which Prime Minister Luís Montenegro announced, on May 22, in Faro, and which Maria da Graça Carvalho spoke about again yesterday, in Lagos.
Photos: Elisabete Rodrigues | Sul Informação
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