THE PYLON learned about the results of a consultancy carried out for the design and construction of the new Wastewater Treatment System, STAR, in Valledupar.
For many years, the city’s domestic wastewater has been treated in the El Salguero Treatment System. Studies have shown that it is an inefficient system to treat wastewater and that it destroyed the ecosystem of the Caesar river.
Therefore, the consultancy had 3 objectives. Carry out the design of the Treatment System ‘La Chimila’ (it will no longer be called ‘El Salguero), focused on improving the quality of the water discharged into the Cesar River, so that the discharge limits are met.
In addition, it will seek to propose the best alternative for La Chimila, “seeking the least intervention of the existing infrastructure”, to reduce the impact on the middle basin of the Caesar river. Similarly, it seeks to implement the necessary infrastructure to generate a value chain through the production of biosolids and biogas and thus guarantee a project with a circular economy approach.
This project would require an investment of $442,679 million (subject to change due to price variations) to benefit more than 700,000 inhabitants of the city of Valledupar. In a document known by THE PYLONthe Ministry assured that it is “ready to provide the necessary support to the municipality for the structuring of the project.”
SALGUER PROBLEMS
Among other things, the provision of the ARD treatment service is insufficient according to the sampling carried out at the discharge points on the Cesar River, since the discharge limits established in the Resolution 0631 of 2015.
Additionally, there is a deficiency in the provision of the service, caused by the poor conditions of the existing infrastructure. “The absence of adequate waterproofing in multiple lagoons generates problems of infiltration of polluting material and gas bubbles.”, the reports explain. In addition, due to the increase in population, the dimensions of the infrastructure are insufficient for the treatment of domestic wastewater.
FILTERS
The most favorable alternative from the economic and technical point of view is to use trickling filters with recirculation. With the implementation of this technology, the STAR focuses on two main elements: treatment aerobic biological treatment of wastewater and sludge digestion to reduce environmental impact.