The sewer treatment station or ‘ETAR’ in Portimão has long been responsible for the unpleasant odour in the air over the city, which is offputting for visitors driving into Portimão. Now, officials have admitted that the treatment equipment has reached its capacity and is unable to process waste further, including the sewage from pigs in Monchique, as originally planned. Câmara President, Manuel da Luz, has requested that another ETAR be constructed in Portimão. “The ETAR was built for residents in Portimão and some in Lagoa. It was built to treat the sewer residue from 120,000 people and 40,000 pigs in Monchique. But, we now know that each pig produces waste equivalent to five humans’ output. That means that we have to treat the equivalent of 200,000 people’s waste, which the ETAR can’t handle,” the politician explained. He has also requested that the new sanitary centre has different capabilities to the one that already exists. While the ETAR debate continues, EMARP (the company responsible for treating Portimão’s sewage and water) is attempting to solve the odour problem that surrounds the local ETARs in a new way. “There will be bacteria control facilities installed in Portimão’s ETAR and six other sewage stations in the area,” said João Rosa, the administrator for EMARP.
Portimão pong lingers on
