Few Cypriots linked to wastewater treatment

The proportion of Cypriot residents connected to a wastewater collecting system is one of the lowest in the EU, according to the Statistical Service’s  Survey on the Treatment of Wastewater in Wastewater Treatment Plants, which was conducted for the first time by the Statistical Service with the cooperation of the Water Development Department.

However, the proportion is rising. According to the survey, 29.8% of the resident population of Cyprus was connected to a wastewater collecting system and a wastewater treatment plant in 2005, compared to 14.3% in 2000 and a mere 6.4% in 1992.

The Statistical Service said that this proportion is one of the lowest among the member-states of the European Union, where the respective percentage varies from 13% in Malta and 27% in Romania to 98% in the United Kingdom and 99% in the Netherlands.

In 2005, there were 222 wastewater treatment plants in operation, of which 5 were serving urban agglomerations, 10 rural agglomerations, 5 refugee housing estates, 8 military camps, 7 hospitals and health centres, 147 hotels and hotel apartments, 22 industries and 16 other establishments, while 2 constituted central treatment plants without sewerage network.

The total treatment capacity of these plants exceeded 96 thousand cubic metres of wastewater per day.

The quantity of wastewater treated in these plants reached 24 million cubic metres. About 22.4 million cubic metres of water were discharged, of which 85% were reused in irrigation.

The production of sewage sludge was 9.265 tonnes, of which 7.231 tonnes were disposed, mainly to agriculture use (75%).

A further 12% of sewage sludge was disposed to landfills, 7% was incinerated and 6% was used for soil enrichment.