Photo: Diari de Tarragona
On 24 August 2019, the Diari de Tarragona publishes a report on the municipalities in the Baix Camp that still do not have a wastewater treatment plant.
At that time, twelve municipalities are in this situation, including Pratdip.
The report shows, however, that the situations differ: some municipalities use a treatment plant located elsewhere, while others have only limited treatment before wastewater is discharged.
In Pratdip, the mayor at the time, Joan M. Rovira, explains that treatment is carried out in a basin before the water is discharged into the ravine. The report does not, however, describe this system in detail or specifically address the situation in Planas del Rey.
Twelve Baix Camp municipalities affected
According to the Diari de Tarragona, twelve municipalities in the Baix Camp do not have a wastewater treatment plant at that time:
- L’Albiol;
- Almoster;
- Arbolí;
- L’Argentera;
- Capafonts;
- Castellvell del Camp;
- Colldejou;
- Duesaigües;
- La Febró;
- Maspujols;
- Pratdip;
- Vilanova d’Escornalbou.
The absence of a treatment plant within a municipality does not necessarily mean that wastewater is discharged untreated. Almoster and Castellvell del Camp, for example, use the treatment plant in Reus.
In Pratdip, treatment before discharge into the ravine
Regarding Pratdip, the mayor at the time, Joan M. Rovira, tells the Diari that wastewater is treated in a basin before being discharged into the ravine.
The report does not, however, provide a technical description of this system. It does not specify how it operates, its capacity or the level of treatment achieved.
What it mainly establishes is that in August 2019, Pratdip is listed among the Baix Camp municipalities considered not to have a wastewater treatment plant.
An issue that goes beyond small municipalities
The article places this situation in a broader context.
According to the local officials interviewed, the construction of wastewater treatment plants depends in particular on the planning and investment of the Agència Catalana de l’Aigua (ACA).
Joaquim Calatayud, then president of the Consell Comarcal del Baix Camp, refers to the financial difficulties experienced by the ACA in previous years and to delays affecting several sanitation projects.
The report therefore highlights the technical and financial difficulties that small municipalities can face in developing this type of infrastructure.
Environmental consequences observed elsewhere in the Baix Camp
The Diari also visits several municipalities to observe some discharge points.
In Duesaigües and Maspujols, the newspaper describes visible wastewater discharges into watercourses and reports concerns expressed by GEPEC about their possible effects on soils and groundwater.
These observations concern the locations visited by the journalists and cannot automatically be applied to Pratdip.
What about Planes del Rei?
For La Tribune, this report is of particular interest because of the situation in Planas del Rey.
However, an important distinction must be made: the report discusses Pratdip at municipal level, but does not specifically describe the sewerage network in Planes del Rei or its former wastewater treatment plant.
It therefore does not, on its own, make it possible to determine how wastewater from Planas was collected, treated or discharged in 2019.
This question must be examined using documents specific to the development and the history of its sanitation facilities.
The report nevertheless provides a useful reference point: in August 2019, wastewater treatment remains an unresolved issue at the level of the municipality of Pratdip.
La Tribune de Planas
Source
Article by Montse Plana published in the Diari de Tarragona on 24 August 2019.
