Lagartera Wastewater Treatment Plant: Serving Lagartera, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain

The Lagartera wastewater treatment plant is located in the municipality of Lagartera, in the province of Toledo, within the autonomous community of Castilla-La Mancha, Spain. The facility serves a population of approximately 2,219 residents, reflecting its role as a small-scale municipal treatment plant in a rural inland setting. The plant operates with secondary treatment, which is the standard biological treatment required under the European Union's 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 processes to reduce organic matter and suspended solids, ensuring compliance with EU effluent quality standards. The treated wastewater is discharged into a local watercourse, which ultimately drains into the Tagus River basin, one of the major river systems in the Iberian Peninsula. The Tagus River flows westward through Spain and Portugal before reaching the Atlantic Ocean near Lisbon. The plant's operations contribute to protecting the local aquatic environment and downstream ecosystems from untreated pollution.

The Lagartera plant discharges into a tributary of the Tagus River, which flows through central Spain and Portugal to the Atlantic Ocean. The Tagus basin supports diverse aquatic life and provides water for agriculture and urban use. The plant's secondary treatment helps reduce nutrient and organic loads, protecting the river's ecological health and preventing eutrophication in downstream reservoirs and coastal areas.