Wastewater treatment

Veolia Water does its utmost to monitor and ensure the safety of the sewage networks and wastewater treatment, right until the treated wastewater is discharged back to nature.
It optimises the efficiency of wastewater treatment plants, it treats and sells the sludge remaining from the treatment processes, oversees the disposal of the sludge from public sanitation aspects, it designs and operates plants that fit into their environment, that are compact, closed, do not emit any smells or noise and that are free of any polluting effects.
With its extensive expertise, it was the first in the world to get ISO 14001 environmental certification for some of its wastewater treatment plants (Antibes, Narbonnes ...).

Every day in the capital city almost a half (45%) of the 500-600 thousand m³ of wastewater created is neutralised at two large sewage plants (North Budapest and South Budapest plants) using biological treatment complying with EU standards.

As a consequence of the developments implemented at the South Budapest Sewage Treatment Plant it is now one of the largest on the European scale and there the country's first high temperature thermophilic sludge digester was commissioned at the end of 2004.

Using this installation, already in 2005 biogas was used to produce electrical energy and heating power. The energy produced covered 85% of the plant's electricity needs and 100% of its heating needs. A similar energy production unit was constructed in 2006 at the North Budapest Plant, which started to operate in 2007.
The nominal capacity of the two treatment plants together is 280 thousand m³/day. The North Budapest plant has a biological treatment capacity of 200 thousand m³, while the South Budapest plant has a biological and nutrient removal capacity of 80 thousand m³.