Brazil - Deodoro, Rio de Janeiro

Deodoro Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) enhances legacy of 2016 Olympics with purer coastal waters.

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Projects facts

Client
Zona Oeste Mais Saneamento
Wastewater
Municipal
Licensee
BRK Ambiental
Project type
Greenfield
Location
Deodoro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Process configuration
Pre-treatment + Nereda
Date
2016

About the Rio de Janeiro - Deodoro WWTP

Deodoro WWTP is situated in Rio de Janeiro, a huge seaside city in Brazil. Deodoro is a neighbourhood of the West Zone of Rio and was one of four venue locations for the Olympic Games in the summer of 2016.

The challenge

The Deodoro WWTP was originally planned to address issues prior to the 2016 Olympic Games, but it now continues to enhance the lives of thousands of Rio de Janeiro residents. The district of Deodoro was one of four venue locations for the Summer Olympics, along with Barra da Tijuca, Copacabana, and Maracanã. In the lead up to the Games, a vast programme of sanitation works was undertaken to improve the health of the local population and the environment. With the eyes of the world focussed on Rio, a particular concern was to reduce the amount of domestic sewage flowing into the West Zone rivers and Guanabara Bay. This was an especially urgent issue, since the Olympic sailing events were to be held there.

The solution

The first phase of the upgrade plan included 200 km of new sewage networks, 11 pumping stations and connections for 25,000 households. The existing Constantino Arruda Pessoa WWTP was extended for the project, by adding a new treatment system based on Nereda technology. This ground-breaking, sustainable treatment process, treats wastewater fully biologically, using aerobic granular sludge to purify the wastewater before returning the cleaned water to the environment. It was selected both for its efficiency and its capabilities.

The outcome

On its opening in 2016, the Deodoro WWTP was the largest Nereda plant built anywhere in the world and the first of its kind in South America – though several more projects have followed in Brazil, which have built on the success of Deodoro. The new plant was designed to eventually treat the wastewater of 432,000 people, the equivalent to 64,800m³ per day, and the plant serves two fifths of the population of Rio de Janeiro’s West Zone. With 10 times the capacity of the original plant, the flow of domestic sewage into the local rivers and bay has been massively reduced. It represents one of the most significant legacy projects from the 2016 Olympic Games and the Deodoro plant continues to bring benefits to the local population and the cleaner environment for generations to come.