Benidorm approves an investment of more than 1.5 million to improve the biological treatment of WWTP with cutting-edge technology

The Local Government Board of Benidorm has approved today the ‘Improvement number 5’ to be executed at the Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) consisting of “the adequacy of the biological treatment” that is carried out in these facilities by introducing the most leading systems. This has been moved by the mayor, Toni Pérez, during a visit to the WWTP to see the state of execution of the four improvements previously approved and that "are in execution or already completed at 95% as appropriate". A visit in which he has been accompanied by the mayor of the Water Cycle, José Ramón González de Zárate; the Councilor for the Environment, Mónica Gómez; and members of the municipal corporation.

The mayor has reported that the improvement approved today involves an investment of “1,530,874.19 euros, being the largest of all those that have been projected so far and probably also at the end of the contract”, which was signed with Aquambiente in December 2018 for a period of four years with the possibility of extension of another two.

Pérez recalled that Aquambiente's offer “included complementary works and improvements to be made in the WWTP and in the network for 6 million euros to be executed during the duration of the contract”. Already in 2019, the City Council approved four improvements “for an amount of 2.8 million euros”, and now “we start 2020 maintaining that investment tonic” and adding another 1.5 million euros. As soon as the action approved today, which has an execution period of 16 months, ends, Aquambiente will have injected “in the first two years of the contract, more than 70% of the investment committed to improve the facilities of the WWTP, thus achieving that our system of integral water management continue to be a leading and national and international reference ”.

On the improvement approved today, and that the municipal and sewage technicians have explained to the Corporation, the mayor has indicated that it consists of “replacing the old aeration turbines of plant 1, already obsolete, with magnetic levitation turbochargers”, thus improving the biological treatment of water and allowing friction losses to be much lower. In addition, “intelligent platforms are going to be implemented. "All this will allow the biological purification process to be controlled and parameterized in real time and that the energy expenditure is lower," he added.

The mayor stressed that "with the different improvements approved and implemented to date we adapt our facilities even to legislative parameters that are not yet required in a treatment plant of this type."

Before the media, Pérez summarized the improvements in execution. Of these, the most significant is the implementation of measures to reduce the conductivity of the effluent, “an improvement that has been claimed by the farmers of the Lower Algar Channel, which allows significant economic savings and increases the quality of the reused water used for irrigation ”. This improvement is valued at 773,587.39 euros and consists of separating the flows that reach the WWTP from Benidorm –two lines- and from l'Alfàs del Pi –one line-, deriving the water with lower conductivity to plant 1 to its treatment, purification and subsequent injection into the agricultural use network; and sending the highest concentration of salts to plant 2.

In addition, the wet chamber of Plaza Triangular Pumping Station (54,439.29 euros) has also been adapted to reduce the accumulation of wipes and other waste; and the WWTP equipment has been renewed and a biomethane production plant (1,088,359.80 euros) has been implanted for use in the service vehicles from the biogas generated in the sewage plant itself. The automation, remote control and remote control systems of the WWTP and of the pumping and integration stations with the Smart Office DTI have also been modernized, investing 822,818.34 euros.

Likewise, and from the environmental point of view, the director of the WWTP, José Miguel Vañó, has indicated that “the improvements introduced to date have allowed a saving of 1,000 tons of CO2 in a year”.