Atalaia do Campo Wastewater Treatment Plant, Fundão, Portugal

Atalaia do Campo is a secondary wastewater treatment plant located in the civil parish of Póvoa de Atalaia e Atalaia do Campo, within the municipality of Fundão, in the Castelo Branco district of central Portugal. The plant serves a population of approximately 4,900 residents and has a designed capacity of 5,000 cubic meters per day, with an average discharge volume of 816.98 cubic meters per day. As a secondary treatment facility, Atalaia do Campo provides biological treatment to remove organic matter and suspended solids, meeting the standards required under Portuguese and EU regulations. The plant operates under the framework of the EU Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (91/271/EEC), which mandates secondary treatment for agglomerations of this size (between 2,000 and 10,000 population equivalent) in inland areas. The treated effluent is discharged into local watercourses that ultimately drain into the Tagus River basin, one of the Iberian Peninsula's major river systems. The Tagus River flows westward through Portugal to the Atlantic Ocean near Lisbon. The plant's operations help protect the region's water quality and support the ecological health of downstream aquatic habitats.

The plant discharges into small streams that feed into the Tagus River basin, which flows through central Portugal and into the Atlantic Ocean. The Tagus estuary is an ecologically important area supporting diverse bird species and aquatic life. The plant's secondary treatment helps reduce nutrient and organic pollution, contributing to the health of this downstream environment.