Guardavalle Mare Wastewater Treatment Plant - Casa Borgorosso, Calabria, Italy

Guardavalle Mare is a municipal wastewater treatment plant located in Casa Borgorosso, a locality within the Guardavalle municipality in the Calabria region of southern Italy. The plant serves a population of approximately 3,500 people and has a designed capacity of 5,000 m³/day, with an average daily discharge of 692.88 m³/day. The plant provides secondary treatment, which is the standard biological treatment required under the EU Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (91/271/EEC) for agglomerations with a population equivalent between 2,000 and 10,000. This level of treatment typically involves biological oxidation and sedimentation to reduce organic matter and suspended solids before discharge. The treated effluent is discharged into the local environment near the Ionian Sea coast. The receiving waters ultimately drain into the Ionian Sea, a major basin of the Mediterranean Sea. The coastal location means the discharge may affect nearby marine ecosystems, including seagrass meadows and coastal fish habitats, which are sensitive to nutrient loading and require careful management.

The plant discharges into the Ionian Sea, a deep basin of the Mediterranean Sea that supports diverse marine life including sea turtles, dolphins, and commercial fish species. The coastal waters near Guardavalle are part of a region with important seagrass meadows (Posidonia oceanica) that provide nursery habitats and oxygen production. Nutrient inputs from treated wastewater must be managed to prevent eutrophication in this ecologically sensitive coastal zone.