The Binissalem-Sencelles wastewater treatment plant facilities have been subjected to an operational review without finding any operational faults
The Son Bordils torrent has now been cleaned and conditioned to the point where debris had accumulated as a result of the heavy rains recorded during the past month of March. The intervention, coordinated by the Balearic Water and Environmental Quality Agency (ABAQUA), was carried out last week by the UTE that manages the plant.
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Abaqua cleans the Son Bordils torrent after the accumulation of debris in its bed due to the March rains
The episode occurred as a result of the excess flow that reached the Binissalem treatment plant due to the massive inflow of rainwater into the municipal sewage networks that converge at the plant, which ended up exceeding the plant’s design and contingency flows.
These high occasional flows not only generate episodic overflows but also cause damage to the treatment process. The carry-overs and increases in flow produce imbalances in the treatment process, as they cause the biological processes responsible for purifying the water to be washed out, which must be regenerated after these events.
Once the plant had been checked by the operating joint venture, it was found that the treatment plant was functioning properly, had not suffered any faults and, under normal conditions, complied with all the parameters established by current legislation, as shown by the analyses published on the website of the Balearic Water and Environmental Quality Agency.
The remains have already been removed from the torrent, along with waste from other sources, such as domestic utensils and building site debris that had also accumulated in the area. In addition, this point of the riverbed has been reconditioned where, due to its intersection with a concreted path, the waters had formed a pool.
At the same time, ABAQUA’s technical services are analysing possible operational improvements to help mitigate the impact of these large flows during heavy rainfall events. However, they point out that no wastewater treatment plant is designed to absorb extraordinary flows such as those generated during storms, as its function is to treat wastewater, not rainwater.
The Regional Ministry of the Sea and Water Cycle reiterates its commitment to the protection of the natural environment and calls on the local councils to speed up the work of adapting their sewage networks, and segregating rainwater, a necessary action to reduce the impact of rainfall on the treatment system, improve its efficiency and avoid effects such as the one that occurred recently in the Son Bordils torrent.