Global News Latest News South America Wastewater

ACCIONA to develop its fourth wastewater treatment plant in Ecuador

ACCIONA
Written by Abby Davey

EMAPAG, the municipal water and sewerage company of Guayaquil (Ecuador), has awarded ACCIONA the construction of the ‘Los Merinos’ wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) in the north of the city. The project, which includes the ‘Progreso’ wastewater pumping station, is valued at US$160 million and is financially backed by the World Bank. The plant, which will serve 1.5 million people, is expected to take 42 months to complete.

The plant will include advanced wastewater treatment and sludge treatment processes and will have a capacity of 4 m³/s. The facility will help eliminate unpleasant odours in the area and therefore improve its environmental surroundings.

In 2019, ACCIONA completed, also for EMAPAG, the construction of the ‘La Pradera’ pumping station as part of the future ‘Las Esclusas’ WWTP in Guayaquil, which replaces the previous pumping station and contributes to modernizing the city’s water purification network.

The project, financed by the European Investment Bank and executed by ACCIONA on a turnkey basis, had a budget of US$25 million (€22 million). The scheme is part of a program to provide universal sanitary sewerage services for one million people – a third of the total population of Guayaquil – from the center to the south of the city.

ACCIONA has designed and constructed more than 330 wastewater treatment plants worldwide, with an overall capacity of 22.3 million m³ per day, the equivalent of serving a population of more than 80 million inhabitants.

The ‘Los Merinos’ plant is ACCIONA’s fifth water treatment scheme and fourth wastewater treatment plant in Ecuador, where the company first opened its local office in 2012. This new contract strengthens ACCIONA’s position as one of the leading players in Ecuador’s water infrastructure sector and in large wastewater treatment schemes in Latin America.

In 2018, an ACCIONA-led consortium was selected to build the Loja WWTP, a turnkey contract valued at US$16.6 million (€13.4 million), with financing from the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF). The treatment plant, now completed and in initial operations, has a maximum hydraulic capacity of 1.45 m3/s and will serve a population of up to 350,000 inhabitants.

Do you have an article that you would like to share? Submit your article here or keep up with the latest news from the water industry and wastewater industry by subscribing to our weekly newsletter.