Ayesa, a global engineering services and technology provider, has secured a new contract from Acuaes, a state-owned entity under the Spanish Ministry for Ecological Transition, to develop a new wastewater treatment plant in Caceres and another in Palma de Mallorca.
The first project will be carried out at the El Marco facility, which serves the City of Caceres in Extremadura. In a contract valued at €710,577 (£607,696), it is part of a €100 million water development initiative being funded by ERDF 2021-2027, to upgrade both sites’ wastewater facilities and capacities.
Delivered in partnership with EIC Estudio de Ingeniería Civil and Medios Técnicos Extremeños, Ayesa will be responsible for designing the plant’s new infrastructure.
The scope of the 12-month programme includes: carrying out environmental surveys, researching alternative solutions, analysing various critical collection and conveyance systems criteria, as well as the construction of the new wastewater treatment plants themselves.
Ayesa’ team, led by Luis Castillo, Head of Water, and Jacobo Pereira, Director for Resources and Environment, will use the most-advanced processes currently available to deliver a cutting-edge system which effectively removes nutrients and treats sludge. This will be instrumental in preventing the discharge of untreated wastewater into the region’s rivers and streams, protecting local ecosystems and improving the lives of the area’s population.
Plans also include the decommissioning of two ageing wastewater treatment plans, which no longer comply with current regulation for discharges. These will be converted into pumping stations to support El Marco’s wider operations.
Recovery, transformation and resilience
The second contract win has seen Ayesa appointed to provide technical assistance during the construction of the Palma II Wastewater Treatment Plant.
The purpose of the project, which is co-funded by NextGenerationEU as part of Spain’s Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan, is to improve and increase the capacity of wastewater treatment on the island of Majorca.
The new plant will treat 90,000 m3/day and will include a pre-treatment system capable of handling 30,000 m3/hour, which will ensure untreated wastewater overflows are no longer discharged into rivers and the sea after intense rainfall events.
Work will be undertaken according to a phased approach. As the facility is structured into four modular components, isolated maintenance/repair activities can take place without halting the entire plant.
It is estimated that one million people will benefit from this new infrastructure, which will serve Palma, Marratxí, Esporles and Bunyola.
Commenting on the contract wins, Luis Castillo says:
“These two projects will enable us to showcase why we are regarded as Spain’s most skilled and innovative wastewater engineering providers. Both are set to massively improve the lives of the people, flora and fauna within both regions, ensuring environment pollution is kept to a minimum. These projects will also provide an opportunity to use our latest approaches and digital solution to help achieve the highest quality outcomes in the most efficient way.”
Graham Stevenson, Ayesa’s UK and Ireland Director of Water, outlines the significance of these projects for the future of wastewater treatment in these territories, says:
“These two projects will showcase engineering best practice and offer our teams invaluable insight into how to best manage wastewater in extreme conditions. As weather patterns become more erratic in Northern Europe, with hotter, drier summers and wetter, colder winters, any lessons we can learn from those living in Mediterranean climes will be useful for future infrastructure development in the UK and Ireland.”
