Rzuchowa Wastewater Treatment Plant, Pleśna, Poland

The Rzuchowa wastewater treatment plant is located in Pleśna, a village in the małopolskie province of southern Poland. It serves a population of approximately 1,795 residents, providing essential sanitation services for this small community. The plant operates under Polish regulations that transpose the EU Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive. The facility provides secondary treatment, which is appropriate for its population size. It has a designed capacity of 6,000 m³/day and currently discharges about 255.94 m³/day of treated wastewater. As a secondary treatment plant, it removes organic matter and suspended solids, meeting the standards required for inland discharge. The treated effluent is discharged into a local watercourse that eventually drains into the Dunajec River, a tributary of the Vistula River. The Vistula flows northward through Poland to the Baltic Sea. The plant plays a key role in protecting the local watershed and downstream aquatic ecosystems from pollution.

The plant discharges into a small stream that feeds into the Dunajec River, which flows through the Carpathian foothills. The Dunajec is a major tributary of the Vistula River, Poland's longest river, which empties into the Baltic Sea via the Gulf of Gdańsk. The local watershed supports diverse aquatic life and is important for regional biodiversity. The plant's secondary treatment helps reduce nutrient loading and organic pollution, safeguarding the ecological health of downstream waters.