Valle Gran Rey Wastewater Treatment Plant, La Gomera, Canary Islands

Valle Gran Rey wastewater treatment plant is located in Valle Gran Rey, a municipality on the island of La Gomera in the Canary Islands, Spain. The plant serves a population of approximately 5,100 residents and operates with secondary treatment, which is standard for communities of this size under Spanish and EU regulations. The plant has a designed capacity of 5,000 cubic meters per day and currently discharges an average of 789.04 cubic meters of treated wastewater daily. As a coastal facility within 10 km of the ocean, it operates under Spain's implementation of the EU Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (91/271/EEC), which requires secondary treatment for discharges into coastal waters from agglomerations of this scale. The treated effluent is discharged into the Atlantic Ocean near Valle Gran Rey. The surrounding marine environment supports diverse coastal ecosystems, including seagrass meadows and rocky reef habitats. Proper wastewater treatment is critical to protect water quality in this ecologically sensitive island setting, where tourism and local fisheries depend on clean coastal waters.

The plant discharges treated wastewater into the Atlantic Ocean near Valle Gran Rey on the western coast of La Gomera. The coastal waters in this area are part of the Canary Current Large Marine Ecosystem, supporting diverse marine life including cetaceans, sea turtles, and endemic fish species. The island's steep terrain and volcanic geology mean that surface runoff and groundwater are limited, making the protection of coastal water quality essential for both ecological health and the local tourism economy.