Guide for the design and maintenance of urban wastewater sanitation and treatment systems in agglomerations with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants.

CSO: Roots of Sisterhood: Women Who Care for the Planet
Area: Water waste and sustainable water management.
Location: Urban agglomerations with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants. Primarily in the provinces of Seville and Jaén.

Type of project

Preparation of a technical guide for urban wastewater treatment in small agglomerations (< 5,000 inhabitants), which will facilitate compliance with the current regulatory framework, the estimation of design, implementation, commissioning and maintenance costs, the dissemination of successful experiences and, finally, the use of digital tools to improve plant monitoring, especially in rural areas where high geographical dispersion increases operating times and costs.

Urban wastewater management in Spain suffers from a structural deficit, often being treated as a mere administrative formality rather than a key element of climate action. This approach has led to systematic breaches of European regulations, culminating in the European Commission bringing a case before the Court of Justice of the EU in December 2023. The situation is critical in regions such as Andalusia, where recent reports have identified more than 200 agglomerations with insufficient treatment, highlighting persistent failures in planning and implementation that degrade ecosystems, put pressure on aquifers and compromise public health.

This problem is most acute in small and medium-sized urban agglomerations, where territorial dispersion and high unit costs are compounded by severe technical, economic and human resource constraints. The lack of training and high staff turnover in these entities make it difficult to link discharges to the climate emergency, ignoring the provisions of the new Directive (EU) 2024/3019, which establishes adequate and digitised treatment as an indispensable measure of adaptation and resilience to extreme weather events.

For all these reasons, the proposal is going to tackle the root of the problem in small and medium-sized local entities.

The duration of the implementation is 15 months.

Target (Disengaged)

 The project will reconnect the management of sanitation and wastewater treatment with sustainability. It will demonstrate that urban water degradation leads to biodiversity loss, impacting ecosystems and exacerbating the effects of climate change. This also results in increased energy costs and reduced resilience of urban water systems. The target public sector for the project is therefore municipal political and technical leaders responsible for urban sanitation and water treatment services.

Science – Based

The project will apply a scientific approach focused on proven technical evidence regarding the effectiveness and sustainability of treatment technologies used in small urban agglomerations. The aim is to foster confidence in science applied to urban water systems.

Gender

The project will integrate the gender perspective in a cross-cutting and structural manner, incorporating a specific chapter in the Technical Guide itself aimed at operators, municipal officials and management entities, with guidelines for applying equality policies in the organisation of sanitation services and the design of facilities. This approach goes beyond the usual participatory logic and introduces practical criteria so that municipalities can correct persistent barriers in a sector where women are systematically under-represented, especially in operational and decision-making areas.

1. Balanced participation and access to decision-making spaces
2. Inclusive language, careful communication and elimination of stereotypes
3. Promotion of female leadership and visibility of role models
4. Identification of barriers and design of inclusive spaces, teams and procedures
5. Inclusive dynamics in workshops and conferences

Planned activities

• Strengthen the decision-making capacity of local governments and operators in small agglomerations through a participatory process of generating technical, regulatory, economic and gender-related knowledge to improve the planning, management and sustainability of sanitation and wastewater treatment in settlements with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants. The aim is to produce a comprehensive, up-to-date and collectively validated technical guide that provides a practical summary of the technological, regulatory, economic, climatic and equality criteria necessary for the proper management of sanitation and wastewater treatment in small agglomerations. regulatory, economic, climatic and equality criteria necessary for the proper management of sanitation and wastewater treatment in small agglomerations.

Action model

• The methodology is based on the principle that these institutions are not resistant to climate change but rather perceive it as a secondary issue. The project will seek to reconnect sanitation and wastewater treatment management with sustainability, showing that urban water degradation leads to biodiversity loss and impacts on ecosystems that increase the effects of climate change, as well as energy cost overruns and, ultimately, reduced resilience of urban water systems. Institutional involvement in the project will be achieved through three mechanisms: 1. Objective technical dissemination through provincial councils. The councils of Seville and Jaén will act as mediators and facilitators, ensuring that information reaches municipal officials and local technicians through their official channels. Their role is key due to their ability to connect with local corporations and their technical assistance structures. 2. Transmission of evidence-based information. Accessible technical language will be used, supported by regulatory and scientific data, to show in a quantifiable way the capacity of small treatment plants to achieve the appropriate level of wastewater treatment. 3. Information sessions and expert dialogue: Review meeting and technical debate between professionals from the sector and local entities to reinforce the guide; Public presentation of the guide and technical round table broadcast from the Seville Provincial Council. The methodology is based on transparency, evidence and inter-administrative cooperation, essential elements for transforming institutional inertia into active commitment. The message will focus on the fact that proper treatment combats climate change, as a poor water system reduces the resilience of the entire territory and compromises the economic and social sustainability of localities.