LONTZEN Wastewater Treatment Plant, Lontzen, Liège, Belgium

The LONTZEN wastewater treatment plant is located in Lontzen, a municipality in the Liège province of Wallonia, Belgium. The plant serves a population of 1,216 and handles a wastewater discharge volume of 217.36 cubic meters per day, with a designed capacity of 4,700 cubic meters per day. As a secondary treatment facility, LONTZEN meets the minimum treatment requirements under the EU Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (91/271/EEC) for agglomerations of this size. The directive mandates secondary treatment for populations between 2,000 and 10,000, but Belgium applies similar standards to smaller communities to protect water quality. The plant discharges treated effluent into local watercourses that ultimately drain into the Meuse River basin. The Meuse flows through Belgium and the Netherlands before reaching the North Sea, supporting diverse aquatic ecosystems and providing drinking water for millions of people downstream.

The LONTZEN plant discharges into the Meuse River basin, which flows through Belgium and the Netherlands to the North Sea. The Meuse supports diverse aquatic life, including fish species such as salmon and trout, and is an important migratory corridor. The region's water quality is managed under the EU Water Framework Directive, which aims to achieve good ecological status for all water bodies.