The first stone was laid in the WWTP project for the municipality of Chipiona in Cadiz on 30 August. The event was presided over by the Regional Minister for the Environment of the Junta de Andalucía (Regional Government of Andalusia), Ms Fuensanta Coves, and the town’s Mayor, Mr Manuel García.

As was communicated at the time, the work for the collector and new wastewater treatment plant in Chipiona were awarded to the MP Environment Division, in a joint venture with FERROVIAL – CADAGUA in September 2006. The project, which was called by the Public Company EGMASA (Andalusian Environment Management Company), amounts to the total sum of €8,784,219.76 and is aimed at improving the current sanitation system in Chipiona, which dumps wastewater via a sewage outfall, directly into the sea. The tender includes the water treatment plant, which will treat urban waste, and the network of collectors, impellers and pumps which allow sewage collection up to the treatment plant.

The new infrastructure, upon which work has begun in Chipiona, will have the capacity to treat the pollution load generated by 150,000 people, which will cover the large volume of people who visit this area in the seasonal periods, particularly in summer. The maximum treatment flow rate is 32,500 m3 of water per day. It will use a process of extended aeration and low load, which includes pre-treatment, secondary settling and sludge treatment phases. It also includes a system to minimise odours and noise and to help integrate the installation with its surroundings.

The award of this project constitutes our company’s first undertaking within the field of constructing new hydraulic public works. The project includes all three phases: design, construction of collectors and development of the WWTP. Chipiona has therefore provided an opening for new contracts in terms of large-scale urban projects and, as regards the Environment Division’s curriculum, it has provided huge incentives to participate in other projects, which, as in this case, require the design and works execution for the treatment plant. The subsequent awarding of the project for the Wastewater Treatment Plant in Marismas del Odiel shows up the above.

Juan Manuel Álvarez Espada
Head of Urban Line