Argentina’s Riachuelo wastewater treatment system – the largest in Latin America – has been completed.
Developed in three main lots, two of which were constructed by the Webuild Group, the system in Buenos Aires is now operational with the commissioning of Lot 2 by Webuild’s subsidiary, Fisia Italimpianti.
Lot 2, scheduled for delivery to client Aysa by the end of July, comprises an inlet pumping station with a capacity of 36m3 per second, a pretreatment facility for 27m3 per second, and an outlet pumping station.
Webuild also delivered Lot 3, which included construction of a 12km subfluvial tunnel 40m below the bed of the Rio de la Plata. The 4.3m diameter tunnel carries treated water to an advanced diffuser system consisting of 34 vertical risers that ensure uniform and safe dispersion of the water along the river bottom.
The riser concept was developed for the project and won the Technical Innovation of the Year Award in the 2021 ITA Tunnelling Awards.
The vertical risers were installed by jacking pipe segments from inside the tunnel upward to the riverbed and through soil formations.
The Riachuelo System will improve sanitation services for over 4.3 million people in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area and support the environmental recovery of the Río de la Plata.
Once fully operational, it will treat up to 2.3 million m3 of wastewater a day and expand sewer access to 1.5 million additional residents across 14 municipalities.
