The Achna Sewage Treatment Plant, in Cyprus, will be built to serve two municipalities and eight communities. The facility will ensure compliance with the European Commission’s Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive, improve living conditions for residents and help protect the environment.
- 15 October 2021
Eight communities and 2 municipalities of the Kokkinochoria Complex will benefit from this project: the communities of Ormideia, Xylotymvou, Xylophagou in Larnaca District; and the communities of Avgorou, Achna, Agios Georgios Acheritou, Liopetri, Phrenaros in Famagusta District, as well as the Deryneia and Sotira municipalities.
The plant will have a capacity of 10 644 m3/day. It will include an emergency and a long-term storage reservoir for treated wastewater and facilities for sewage reception and treatment. The target is for the infrastructure to serve a population of 10 975 people by 2023, increasing to 43 900 people by 2039.
The project includes a treated wastewater disposal network and a pumping station for irrigation.
A total of 87 pumping stations will be built. All will be equipped with emergency standby diesel generators. Other elements of the project include access roads, pipelines, a substation and photovoltaic system and the necessary electrical infrastructure.
A two-phase project
This project is phase II of the Construction of the Kokkinochoria Complex Sewerage System project, which started in the 2007-2013 period and was completed.
During phase I, a 301 km sewage collection network and conveyance system were built in 10 agglomerations: Xylophagou, Xylotymbou, Ormideia, Avgorou, Achna, Deryneia, Frenaros, Agios Georgios Acheritou, Liopetri and Sotira.
Protecting the environment
The project aims to ensure that the agglomerations in the project area comply with EU legislation for wastewater treatment and collection. Treated wastewater will be used for irrigation on farms near the plant, which will reduce the need for using scarce potable water. The sludge left over from treated wastewater will be reused as fertiliser.
This will minimise the risks that untreated sewage poses to human health, as well as the risk of soil and groundwater pollution. Overall, the new infrastructure should contribute to a healthier environment and enable the sustainable growth of communities.
Total investment and EU funding
Total investment for the project “Installation of sewage collecting networks in the Kokkinochoria Complex , Phase II” is EUR 32 973 768, with the EU’s Cohesion Fund contributing EUR 22 514 653 through the “Competitiveness and sustainable development” Operational Programme for the 2014-2020 programming period. The investment falls under the priority “Management of solid waste and water resources”.