Villas del Cedro 1 Wastewater Treatment Plant, Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico

Villas del Cedro 1 is a wastewater treatment plant located in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. It serves a population of approximately 8,945 people, making it a small-scale facility within the urban infrastructure of the Tijuana metropolitan area. The plant is situated in the Zona Río district, near the Tijuana River. The plant provides secondary treatment, which is the standard biological treatment process for municipal wastewater. It has a designed capacity of 1,555.20 cubic meters per day and currently discharges an average of 846.72 cubic meters per day. Under Mexican regulations (NOM-001-SEMARNAT-1996), secondary treatment is required for discharges into water bodies, and this plant meets that standard. The treated effluent is discharged into the local environment, likely into the Tijuana River or its tributaries, which flow into the Tijuana River Estuary and ultimately the Pacific Ocean. The estuary is an ecologically sensitive area that supports diverse aquatic life and migratory birds. The plant's operation helps reduce pollution loads to this important coastal ecosystem.

The plant discharges into the Tijuana River watershed, which flows through Tijuana and into the Tijuana River Estuary, a coastal wetland that empties into the Pacific Ocean. This estuary is a critical habitat for fish, birds, and other wildlife, and it is part of a larger binational watershed shared with the United States. The secondary treatment provided by the plant helps protect downstream water quality and the ecological health of the estuary and coastal waters.