DEPURATORE DI BEDOLLO - Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant in Piazze, Italy

DEPURATORE DI BEDOLLO is an advanced wastewater treatment plant located in Piazze, a frazione of Bedollo in the Trentino-Alto Adige region of northern Italy. The plant serves a population of approximately 3,538 residents and has a designed capacity of 4,800 cubic meters per day, with an actual discharge volume of 700.40 cubic meters per day. The plant operates under Italy's implementation of the EU Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (91/271/EEC), which requires appropriate treatment for agglomerations of this size. As an advanced treatment facility, it goes beyond secondary treatment to remove nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus, which is important for protecting sensitive receiving waters in the Alpine region. The treated effluent is discharged into local watercourses that ultimately drain into the Adige River basin, one of Italy's major river systems flowing into the Adriatic Sea. The plant's advanced treatment helps protect the ecological quality of these mountain streams and downstream waters, which support diverse aquatic life and are important for regional biodiversity.

The plant discharges into small streams in the Alpine foothills of Trentino, which feed into the Adige River basin. The Adige River flows south through Verona and into the Adriatic Sea near Chioggia. The receiving waters are ecologically sensitive, supporting cold-water fish species and macroinvertebrate communities typical of clean mountain streams. Advanced treatment helps minimize nutrient loading that could otherwise lead to eutrophication in downstream lakes and coastal areas.