BUTTRIO Wastewater Treatment Plant, Manzinello, Friuli-Venezia Giulia

The BUTTRIO wastewater treatment plant is located in Manzinello, a locality within the municipality of Manzano in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of northeastern Italy. The plant serves a population equivalent of 1,980 and is part of the region's municipal wastewater infrastructure, operating under Italian regulations that transpose the EU Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (91/271/EEC). The plant employs advanced treatment processes, which go beyond the secondary treatment standard required by the EU directive for agglomerations of this size. With a designed capacity of 5,000 m³/day and an average daily discharge of 391.97 m³/day, the facility operates well below its capacity, indicating room for future growth or seasonal variations. The treated effluent is discharged into local watercourses that ultimately drain into the Adriatic Sea via the Isonzo River basin. The plant's advanced treatment helps protect the sensitive coastal environment of the northern Adriatic, which supports diverse aquatic life and is an important area for tourism and fisheries.

The BUTTRIO plant discharges into the local drainage network that feeds into the Isonzo River (Soca), which flows into the Gulf of Trieste in the northern Adriatic Sea. This coastal zone is ecologically sensitive, supporting seagrass meadows and nursery habitats for fish. Advanced treatment reduces nutrient loads, helping to mitigate eutrophication risks in the Adriatic, a semi-enclosed sea with limited water exchange.