The Bens sewage treatment plant is sheltered by a fossil dune dating back half a million years. It has endured the constant onslaught of the ocean. The plant has ensured water purification for more than 400,000 people in the municipalities of A Coruña, Arteixo, Cambre, Culleredo, and Oleiros for almost two decades.

The WWTP was built in 2004 and can treat a flow of 6.7 cubic meters per second, reaching a population load of 600,000 residents. It can therefore cover the needs for growth in A Coruña’s metropolitan area in the coming years.

The WWTP was carved into the southwestern slope of Mount Alberto, and it’s bordered by the Atlantic coast between the Bens cove and Redonda Island. It spreads out over 60,000 square meters. Given the complexity of its location, Ferrovial and Cadagua had to excavate over two million cubic meters of soil for construction.

The Bens plant also has advanced technology like an ultraviolet disinfection system. It also features a sludge digestion system that produces biogas. This, in turn, can be used to generate electrical energy, along with another process that uses excess heat from the water and exhaust gases from the generators. Thus, the Bens treatment plant achieves energy self-sufficiency to some degree.

Under the auspices of ancient beaches and dunes that tell the story of another world, these great advances in engineering and construction are working to protect A Coruña’s environment and keep it clean.