Sewage treatment plants in Mallorca
The full guide: septic tank or treatment plant, paperwork, treated water and maintenance.
See the guide →Sewage treatment · Porto Cristo
Sewage treatment plants in Porto Cristo, between the port, the coves and the Riuet
Porto Cristo is Manacor's port town, and around it there are chalets in the coves, holiday homes and fincas. If yours is not connected to the mains sewer, the wastewater is treated on the plot, and here the coast decides a lot. We are Joaquín and Juan, installers in Mallorca since 1998: we supply the new treatment plant, commission it and prepare and sign the documents your architect or engineer asks for.
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- Coastal and holiday homes
- New approved unit
- Signed documents
- Since 1998
Your area
Porto Cristo: three public facts before choosing the unit
The Balearic Islands Water Plan (RD 49/2023, art. 70) is the same across the island. In Porto Cristo, what changes things is on the government maps.
The Riuet and the wetlands around it
At the head of the harbour, the Water Plan's wetland catalogue lists the Riuet del port de Manacor (code MAZH13). To the south lies s'Estany d'en Mas in Cala Romàntica (MAZH14), and to the north the Riuet de s'Illot (MAZH12). A house with 12 population equivalents or more within 500 m of any of the three needs prior authorisation from the DGRH.
An aquifer with patches of high vulnerability
The town sits on the «Portocristo» groundwater body (1820M3), designated a nitrate vulnerable zone for agricultural nitrates (Decree 18/2023). And on the government's aquifer vulnerability map, moderate and high zones alternate within a few hundred metres around the town. If your plot falls in high vulnerability, the rules only allow discharge to garden and also list denitrification and disinfection, recommended up to 12 population equivalents and required above 12 (art. 70.10, tables 13 and 14): that can change the unit, so we check it before quoting.
Estate plots and gardens that are just big enough
The rule is to reuse the water on your own plot, with 25 m² of garden per population equivalent (art. 70.12): an 8-bed house needs 200 m² of garden. On a plot in an estate it pays to do that sum on day one; if the metres are not there, the options are a drainage trench with a favourable report from the water authority, or a holding tank.
What we do
What we do in Porto Cristo, plainly
- Replacing the chalet's old septic tank with a new extended-aeration plant, CE-marked and with an EN 12566-3 certificate showing BOD₅ 70 %, COD 75 % and suspended solids 70 % (art. 70.10). If the garden of an estate plot does not give the square metres, the holding tank (art. 70.2). Every brand; for example, the GRAF one2clean.
- Installation and commissioning in Porto Cristo and the coves, with the electrics done as an authorised low-voltage installation company.
- Paperwork through Manacor or Sant Llorenç: the building licence depends on which side of s'Illot the house stands, but the responsible declaration always goes to the DGRH. We prepare and sign it as the installation company, and your architect or engineer files it.
- The hole is dug by your builder with the measurements we give them in writing according to the manufacturer. Emptying is done by an authorised waste management company you hire (art. 70.7.f); keep the receipts for five years.
- Service visits timed for the start of the season: the ones the regulations require or, if the manufacturer asks for more, the manufacturer's (two a year on the GRAF one2clean). We don't subcontract anyone.
The paperwork
Porto Cristo files its papers in Manacor
For paperwork, Porto Cristo, Cala Anguila, Cala Mendia and the Manacor side of s'Illot belong to the municipality of Manacor: for a new build on urban land with no mains sewer, the licence comes from Manacor town hall, which asks for proof of the prior notice given to the Balearic water authority, Recursos Hídrics (fourth transitional provision of the Balearic Urban Planning Act, Law 12/2017), and from that notice there are two years at most for the responsible declaration to the DGRH (art. 70.5). We prepare and sign the documents as the installation company, and your architect or engineer files them.
s'Illot, on the other hand, is shared between Manacor and Sant Llorenç des Cardassar: depending on which side the house is on, the building licence comes from one town hall or the other. The prior notice and the plant's responsible declaration always go to the government's DGRH, and when the water will not fit in the garden, the alternative the rules allow is a holding tank (art. 70.2), which discharges nothing.
Sources: Balearic Islands Water Plan, RD 49/2023 (art. 70, 76 and 77) · wetland catalogue, supply boreholes and aquifer vulnerability in the Balearic government IDEIB viewer · nitrate vulnerable zones (Decree 18/2023).
How we work
How we do it in Porto Cristo
1
The exact spot on the map
We check the distance to the Riuet in the harbour, to s'Estany d'en Mas and to the Riuet de s'Illot, and whether the plot falls in high or moderate aquifer vulnerability.
2
The garden sum
From the maximum beds we work out whether your plot gives 25 m² of green area per population equivalent; if not, we explain the trench with a report or the holding tank, and send you the quote.
3
Septic tank out, plant in
With the pit dug as we indicated, we install, start the plant and hand over the signed documents.
Keep learning
More on treatment plants and energy in Porto Cristo
Solar panels in Porto Cristo
Self-consumption for the house; by day, the blower runs on your sun too.
See solar in Porto Cristo →Heat pumps in Porto Cristo
Heating and hot water with a heat pump, with its figures and grants.
See heat pumps in Porto Cristo →Across the east and south
Sewage treatment plants in the east and south: Manacor · Felanitx · Cala d'Or · Santanyí · Campos, or see the guide to sewage treatment plants in Mallorca →
Sewage treatment plants near Porto Cristo: Portocolom
Also in Porto Cristo: air conditioning · water softeners
See our work and customer reviews on the JSL Google Maps profile →
Common questions
Frequently asked questions about sewage treatment plants in Porto Cristo
My house is near the Riuet in Porto Cristo. Does that change anything?
Only if the house has 12 population equivalents or more: then, within 500 m of a catalogued wetland such as the Riuet del port de Manacor, it needs prior authorisation from the Direcció General de Recursos Hídrics instead of the responsible declaration (Balearic Islands Water Plan, RD 49/2023, arts. 76.5 and 77). Below 12, the responsible declaration is still filed once the plant is installed.
How do I know if my plot in Porto Cristo is in high vulnerability?
In the government's IDEIB map viewer, aquifer contamination vulnerability layer. Around Porto Cristo it switches from moderate to high over a short distance, so it is checked with the exact location. In high vulnerability, the Water Plan only allows discharge to garden and also lists denitrification and disinfection, recommended up to 12 population equivalents and required above 12 (art. 70.10, tables 13 and 14). Send us the Google Maps pin and we check it before pricing.
My chalet in Cala Anguila has an old septic tank. Is it good enough?
For the responsible declaration, the unit must prove minimum removal of BOD₅ 70 %, COD 75 % and suspended solids 70 % (art. 70.10 of the Balearic Water Plan), with the manufacturer's certificate to EN 12566-3. A septic tank only settles; if yours has no such certificate, it will not do for the paperwork. We replace it with a new, CE-marked extended-aeration plant.
Who empties the plant, and what do I need to keep?
An authorised waste management company that you hire, as often as the manufacturer specifies (art. 70.7.f of the Balearic Water Plan). Keep the receipts for the last five years, because the water authority can ask for them. You can check the company is authorised in the government's public register of waste managers (RPGRIB).
What do you do, and what does my builder do?
In Porto Cristo, we supply the new plant, approved to EN 12566 and CE-marked, fit it, do the electrics as an authorised low-voltage installation company, commission it and hand over the signed documents. Your builder does the excavation, the sand bed and backfill, the trenches and the inspection chambers, to the measurements we give in writing from the manufacturer. We don't subcontract anyone.
How often is a plant serviced in a holiday home?
The service visits the regulations require or, if the manufacturer asks for more, the manufacturer's: on the GRAF one2clean, for example, two a year, with a signed report. In a Porto Cristo house that stays closed for months, one visit is best timed before the season opens, so the biology is ready when you arrive.
Quality
We work with every brand
As an example, GRAF tanks. We propose the unit according to the beds and the use of each house.
A house in Porto Cristo with no mains sewer?
Send us the location, the maximum number of beds, whether it is a holiday home, where the water will go and some photos. We reply within 24-48 hours on working days.