Monday, October 31st will mark the laying of the first stone at the long-awaited wastewater treatment plant between Faro and Olhão by the Secretary of State for the Environment, Carlos Martins. No completion date has been announced but expect two years.
In Faro back in April this year, the Secretary of State for the Environment was at the headquarters of Águas do Algarve to sign the contract for a new treatment plant that will be built by Consórcio Oliveiras SA - Acciona Agua SA at a cost of €13.9 million.
The usual suspects were at this ceremony, including the mayors of Faro, Olhão and São Brás de Alportel, all of whom are keen to see the new plant built and operating as the current treatment plant has been unable to cope for years, discharging untreated effluent into the Ria Formosa lagoon, despite vehement denials by Rogério Bacalhau, Faro’s mayor.
The new plant is being built by the old one and will be able to cope with the volume of sewage produced by 110,000 local inhabitants from the three council areas.
Local environmental organisations say the treatment plant design has missed a trick as the residual, nutrient rich water could be used in local citrus and vegetable production if channeled towards the fertile lowlands surrounding Faro, rather than ending up in the Ria Formosa where algae growth is boosted and oxygen levels consequently drop, affecting sub-aquatic life.
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