El Trebal Mapocho wastewater treatment plant (Chile)

In April 2010, in order to complete Santiago’s sanitation program, Aguas Andinas awarded the SUEZ Joint Venture a Design, Built and Operate contract for the refurbishment of the existing El Trebal plant and the construction of the new Mapocho plant.

This new contract is in line with the Waste Water Treatment Plan Management of Greater Santiago, aimed at restoring the water quality of natural environments and preparing for a population increase.

The project's objective is to refurbish and optimize existing processes, while doubling the capacity to treat urban effluent at El Trebal/Mapocho site from 380,000 m³/day (2 million equivalent inhabitants) to a maximum future capacity of 760,000 m³/day (4 million equivalent inhabitants).

In addition, right from the point of designing the plant, process optimization has been put in place to curb environmental impact and greenhouse gas emissions during construction and operation.

1. refurbishment of El Trebal plant

water treatment

• Grit removal, screening, compacting
• Primary settling, aeration, secondary settling
• Final chlorination

adapt the plant to the future capacity :

• Construction of new inlet structures (well)
• Construction of a new pretreatment for both El Trebal and Mapocho plants as well as future extensions at 11 m³/s (equipped for 6.6 m³/s)
• Optimization of the distribution chamber between the primary settling and the biological treatment
• Aeration : improvement of the biological tanks to allow the recovery of scum

2. construction of Mapocho plant

water treatment

• A design similar to the existing La Farfana plant
• Aeration : architecture similar to La Farfana plant with optimization of the aeration/mixing set
• Mixing chamber

Wastewater treatment plan of greater Santiago: from 3% to 100% of waste water treatment coverage within 15 years