MECO Wastewater Treatment Plant, Los Santos de la Humosa, Spain

MECO is a wastewater treatment plant located in Los Santos de la Humosa, within the Comunidad de Madrid region of Spain. The facility serves a population of around 16,317, placing it in the medium agglomeration category under Spanish and EU regulations. Under the EU Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (91/271/EEC), plants serving between 10,000 and 150,000 population equivalent are required to provide secondary treatment as a minimum. In sensitive areas, such as those draining into nutrient-sensitive water bodies, more stringent tertiary treatment may be mandated. The plant's operational details and specific treatment processes are not publicly available in this record. The treated effluent from MECO likely discharges into a local watercourse that eventually flows into the Tagus River basin, which is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula. The Tagus River drains into the Atlantic Ocean near Lisbon, supporting diverse aquatic ecosystems and providing water for agriculture and urban use along its course.

The plant's receiving water body is part of the Tagus River basin, which flows westward across Spain and Portugal to the Atlantic Ocean. The Tagus supports a variety of fish species, including the endangered European eel, and provides critical habitat for migratory birds. Downstream ecosystems rely on adequate treatment to prevent nutrient enrichment and maintain water quality for both ecological and human uses.