New Nicosia Wastewater Treatment Plant enters in full operation serving both communities
8 April 2014 – Project Inauguration Ceremony
Nicosia, 4 April 2014 – The European Commission and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) announce the completion of the project for the new bi-communal Nicosia Wastewater Treatment Plant.
To mark the occasion, a special inaugural event will be held at the plant on Tuesday 8 April 2014, starting at 11.30 a.m. Speeches at the inauguration will be delivered by representatives of the two communities in Nicosia, Mr. Constantinos Yiorkadjis and Mr. Kadri Fellahoğlu, by Mr. Štefan Füle, European Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy and by Mr. Olivier Adam, UNDP Deputy Assistant Administrator and Deputy Director of the Regional Bureau for Europe and the CIS. A symbolic action consisting in unveiling of the plaque and watering of olive trees with treated water from the plant will follow.
The project – with a total budget of approximately 29 million EURO - was jointly funded by the Sewerage Board of Nicosia (70%), and the European Union under the Aid Programme for the Turkish Cypriot community (30%). The project was implemented by the United Nations Development Programme in the framework of the Partnership for the Future (UNDP-PFF) Programme and was the biggest project carried out by UNDP-PFF in Cyprus.
The project represents an important example of bi-communal cooperation in Cyprus. The Nicosia Wastewater Treatment plant began operating in 1980. In 2003, it began facing environmental problems and the decision was taken to modernize the facilities. Work on the new, state-of-the-art plant began in March 2010 and it was put into trial operations in June 2013.
The European Union fully supported the project from its inception, fully financing the design of the new plant and covering 30% of the costs of its construction. The United Nations Development Programme promoted and facilitated dialogue between the two communities since the very beginning in the 1980s and oversaw the implementation of the design,
construction, commissioning and operationalizing of the new bi-communal plant in close cooperation with the European
Commission and the two communities.
The new plant is currently treating an average of 30,000 cubic meters of wastewater per day – equivalent to a population
of 270,000 people - using state-of-the-art technologies (membrane bioreactors) in line with European Union standards.
Furthermore, the new plant is capable of converting the energy content of bio-solids into green electricity and organic
fertilizers, hence contributing to environmental sustainability and reducing the physical and environmental footprint of
waste water collection and treatment on the island.
The European Commission and the United Nations Development Programme wish to express their congratulations to the
representatives of the two communities of Nicosia, the engineers and technical teams, for this important achievement.
The European Commission and the UNDP invite members of the press to cover this inaugural event (map attached).
Contact Information:
Kezban Akansoy, Press Officer, European Commission Representation in Cyprus, kezban.akansoy@ec.europa.eu
Tel. +357 22 817 770
Martina Zaccaro, Communications Officer, UNDP Partnership for the Future, Email: registry.pff.cy@undp.org
Tel. +357 22 874 733 or +90392 22 00027.
Background information of the New Nicosia Wastewater Treatment Plant:
The project: In 1978, the local representatives of the two communities, with encouragement and assistance from the
UNDP reached an agreement to complete the construction of a common sewerage system. Since the beginning of its
operation in 1980, the plant has been a perfect example of the cooperation between Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot
sewage engineers, with the provision of the best possible service to both communities of Nicosia as the objective. In early
2003, the Plant started to face growing environmental problems and to increasingly experience capacity overload and
could not meet European Union effluent quality requirements. This challenge brought the two communities of Nicosia to
consider the opportunities offered by wastewater and to start thinking of it as a resource. A new state-of-the-art
wastewater treatment infrastructure was designed which has resulted in a very significant improvement of wastewater
collection and treatment.
Highlights:
Water for irrigation: The newly constructed waste water treatment plant will produce ca. 10 million m³ water a year which
can be used for agricultural irrigation. Depending on the type of crops and crop rotation strategy, approximately 500
hectares can be irrigated with such water. Such a measure is in line with Art. 12 of the Council Directive 91/271/EEC, water
conservation requirements introduced by the Council Directive 2000/60/EC, and at the same time reducing the overextraction
of groundwater in the area (enhancing water resources and water conservation).
Fertilizer for Agriculture: The new WWTP has a sludge treatment line which stabilizes the sewage sludge (bio-solids) to
comply with the requirements of the Council Directive 86/278/EEC on the protection of the environment, and in particular
of the soil, when sewage sludge is used in agriculture. Over 3000 tons of dry solids will be produced in a year. The sludge
resulting from the treatment can be converted to dry sludge/compost suitable for agriculture as natural fertilizer.
Combined Heat and Power generation: The new WWTP has an anaerobic sludge digester and a CHP unit to produce electricity from biogas. The operation of the plant is therefore partly powered by renewable energy.
In figures:
- The equivalent of 270,000 people from both communities will be served by the new plant;
- 30,000 m3 of wastewater are treated in the new plant every day on average;
- More than 10 million m3 of treated water per year could be reused for agricultural irrigation. Depending on the type of crop and the crop rotation strategy, approximately 500 hectares can be irrigated with the treated water reducing the over-extraction of groundwater in the area, thus enhancing water resources and water conservation;
- Over 3,000 tons of dry solids suitable for use as natural fertilizer will be produced every year.
- The WWTP will have an anaerobic sludge digester and will be capable of producing electricity from biogas. The operation of the plant will therefore be partly powered by renewable energy, reducing its CO2 emissions.
