Piornal Wastewater Treatment Plant, Extremadura, Spain

The Piornal wastewater treatment plant is located in the town of Piornal, in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain. It serves a population of approximately 2,500 people, classifying it as a small agglomeration under Spanish and EU regulations. The plant provides secondary treatment, which is the standard required by the EU Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (91/271/EEC) for freshwater discharges from agglomerations of this size. The plant has a designed capacity of 2,544 m³/day and currently discharges an average of 453.12 m³/day, indicating it operates well below its design capacity. The treated effluent is discharged into a local watercourse that 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 help protect the local aquatic environment and downstream water quality.

The plant discharges into a tributary of the Tagus River basin, which is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula. The Tagus River supports diverse aquatic life and provides water for agriculture and human consumption. The plant's secondary treatment helps reduce organic pollutants and nutrients, protecting the ecological health of the receiving water body and the downstream Tagus estuary.