Cutting-edge technology introduced to treat wastewater in the Principality and protect the Mediterranean

H.S.H. the Sovereign Prince, accompanied by Mr Antoine Frérot, CEO of Veolia, as well as H.E. Mr Pierre Dartout, Minister of State, H.E. Mr Bernard Fautrier, Minister Plenipotentiary, and Ms Céline Caron-Dagioni, Minister of Public Works, the Environment and Urban Development. © Government Communication Department / Michael Alesi

 

Continuing its commitment to develop a sustainable city that protects biodiversity on land and at sea, in 2018 the Prince’s Government launched a major investment and modernisation programme to improve the quality of wastewater treatment in the country, with support from SMEAUX, the concession holder for the drinking water supply service and operator of the Principality’s wastewater treatment plant. 

Following more than four years of work on an occupied site with the plant continuing to operate, the extension constructed in place of the car park below the Triton building has increased treatment capacity by more than 30% while also improving the quality of the discharge to a level that exceeds European standards by 40%. This performance would rank the Principality among the states with the strictest requirements for protecting the Mediterranean.

During a visit to the new facilities at the wastewater treatment plant, H.S.H. Prince Albert II – accompanied by Mr Antoine Frérot, CEO of Veolia, as well as H.E. Mr Pierre Dartout, Minister of State, H.E. Mr Bernard Fautrier, Minister Plenipotentiary, and Ms Céline Caron-Dagioni, Minister of Public Works, the Environment and Urban Development – expressed his satisfaction that Monaco was consistently setting higher standards to protect its resources and biodiversity.

A model of integration within an urban environment, the wastewater treatment plant is the first of its kind in the world to have been built underground with zero disruption (smell or noise). In addition to the Principality’s wastewater, it also handles wastewater from the commune of Beausoleil and some parts of Cap d’Ail and La Turbie, before discharging it 800 metres off the Monegasque coast at a depth of 100 metres.

Equipped with a new biological treatment capability, the extension has been designed to increase treatment capacity from 100,000 to 130,000 population equivalent and meet the new needs of the Principality in terms of sanitation.