Eaab closes 6,400 wastewater connections that polluted Bogotá rivers

This is an automated translation of the original release published in Spanish.

Acueducto de Bogotá statement

Empresa de Acueducto y Alcantarillado de Bogotá (EAAB) has identified and eliminated 6,400 irregular connections that discharged wastewater into Bogotá's rivers, causing pollution, exceeding the initial goal of 1,500 established in the District Development Plan.

An irregular connection is when the wastewater pipeline is installed with the rainwater pipeline, which causes contaminated water to be discharged into rivers and/or wetlands.

Cristiana Arango, manager of EAAB, stated that this administration proposed to use the Plan for the Identification and Correction of Irregular Connections (PICCE) to carry out important works to identify and connections that were previously constructed in a non-technical fashion by builders and informal settlements.

With these works, there are already 6,400 points in the city where rainwater has been separated from wastewater so that polluted water can be taken directly to the treatment plant and before reaching the rivers.

"With this plan to identify and eliminate irregular connections, we at the company contribute to the environmental cleanliness of our rivers and that allows us to provide better environmental conditions for the city," said Cristina Arango.

Among the great benefits of the PICCE are the reduction of pollutants in the Tunjuelo and Fucha Basins, the reduction of waste to avoid clogging of networks, the mitigation of flood risks and the improvement of drainage and wastewater evacuation infrastructure.

The manager Cristina Arango announced this achievement during a tour of the works to eliminate irregular connections into the Fucha and Tunjuelo rivers in the town of Kennedy, a sector where 285 irregular connections will be eliminated before the end of this year: "At this point of the city alone, EAAB is investing 8 billion pesos to identify and elimination irregular connections.”.