Regional water authority Águas do Algarve (AdA) has announced that it has finally launched an international tender for the construction of a large-scale water treatment plan (ETAR) in Faro, to replace the existing rundown plants of Faro “Nascente” and Olhão “Poente” blamed for pollution in Ria Formosa.
The project is scheduled to cost €14.5 million, although the value could change “due to the complexity of the construction work”.
The new ETAR will be built in the same place as the Faro “Nascente” wastewater plant at Sítio da Garganta, 2.5km east of Faro.
It will take over the treatment of water not only from Faro and Olhão, but also São Brás de Alportel.
If all goes according to plan, the tender should be settled “in the second half of 2015”.
As the Resident has reported (see story https://www.portugalresident.com/%E2%82%AC2-million-ploughed-into-vila-do-bispo-water-treatment-plant), the planned Faro/Olhão ETAR is much-awaited by both municipalities, shell fishermen and environmentalists, who for years have been complaining of polluted waters in Ria Formosa specifically because the current ETARs do not do their job properly.
AdA is also expected to launch a tender soon for a new ETAR to be built in Companheira (Portimão).
