Sewage treatment plants in Valldemossa: estates, developments and the Serra

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Valldemossa: a sewer in the village, septic tanks on the estates and fincas in the mountains

The rules are the same across the island: the Balearic Islands Water Plan (Royal Decree 49/2023, art. 70). In Valldemossa there are three things worth knowing before choosing a unit.

George Sand and Shangri-La: sewer built, no treatment plant

According to an agreement of the Environment Commission published in BOIB no. 57 of 30 April 2022, the sewerage works in sector P4 (George Sand) were finished in 2014 with no treatment system, and since 2015 there has been a network in P4 and P5 (Shangri-La) that cannot be registered as a public service. That is why the houses stayed on septic tanks. The solution studied is to take that water to the Valldemossa treatment plant. If your house is there, ask the town hall whether the connection is working yet: if it is, you connect; if not, the water is treated on your plot.

More than a dozen wells supplying the village

On the Balearic government's IDEIB viewer, the Water Plan's abstraction layer lists more than a dozen wells supplying the Valldemossa network. Each one has restriction perimeters around it: inside the maximum restriction one, the plant needs denitrification and disinfection (art. 70.10, table 13), and with 12 population equivalents or more inside the restriction perimeter a favourable report from the water authority is needed (art. 76.5).

Serra de Tramuntana Natural Area and a sensitive aquifer

A large part of the land around the village lies within the Serra de Tramuntana Natural Area (IDEIB viewer), declared in 2007, whose management plan was approved by Decree 19/2007; if your finca is inside it, your engineer also checks what that plan says. And the Balearic government's aquifer vulnerability map shows patches of high vulnerability in the municipality: there the rules only allow treated water to go to a green area, with denitrification and disinfection (art. 70.10, table 13).

The paperwork

Which paper applies to a house in Valldemossa

Once the unit is installed and the water irrigates your garden or terraces, the responsible declaration to the Direcció General de Recursos Hídrics (DGRH), which is always filed (art. 70.4). If you are going to build on urban land with no sewer in service, the prior notice goes to Recursos Hídrics first, with the guarantee of connecting once the network arrives (Balearic Planning Act 12/2017, fourth transitional provision), and from then there are two years at most for the declaration (art. 70.5). If the water goes to a drainage trench, a favourable report and an authorisation as well (art. 70.12).

We leave the unit's file ready and signed as the installation company: data sheet, the performance the manufacturer states, maintenance plan, proof of purchase and installation and the electrical certificate for the blower. Your architect or engineer files it, together with the rest of the house paperwork.

Sources: Balearic Islands Water Plan, RD 49/2023 (art. 70) · wetland catalogue, supply boreholes and aquifer vulnerability in the Balearic government IDEIB viewer · BOIB no. 57, 30 April 2022 (sewerage of sectors P4 and P5) · Serra de Tramuntana Natural Area (CAIB) · Balearic Planning Act 12/2017, fourth transitional provision.