Kozielice Wastewater Treatment Plant, Pienice, Poland - Coastal Secondary Treatment

The Kozielice wastewater treatment plant is located in Pienice, within the gmina Police in województwo zachodniopomorskie, Poland. It serves a population of 4,312, classifying it as a small agglomeration under Polish and EU regulations. The plant operates with secondary treatment, which is the standard requirement under the EU Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive for settlements of this size, ensuring effective removal of organic matter and suspended solids. With a designed capacity of 330 m³/day and an actual discharge volume of 614.82 m³/day, the plant is operating above its nominal capacity, indicating potential stress on the treatment infrastructure. The plant is situated within 10 km of the Baltic Sea coast, making its discharge quality critical for marine environmental protection. Polish regulations, aligned with EU directives, require appropriate treatment to prevent eutrophication in sensitive coastal areas. The treated effluent likely discharges into local watercourses that drain into the Baltic Sea, a semi-enclosed sea with limited water exchange, making it vulnerable to nutrient pollution. The plant's proximity to the coast underscores the importance of effective nutrient removal to protect marine ecosystems, including fish spawning grounds and migratory bird habitats along the Pomeranian coast.

The plant is located near the Baltic Sea coast, within the drainage basin of the Odra River system, which flows into the Szczecin Lagoon and then the Baltic Sea. The Baltic Sea is a brackish water body with low biodiversity but high ecological sensitivity to nutrient inputs, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus. Effective wastewater treatment is essential to prevent eutrophication, which can lead to algal blooms and oxygen depletion, harming fish populations and disrupting the local marine food web.