We are working on a comprehensive sanitation project for the city of Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay. With a population of 1.4 million, the city’s sanitation network, which in some areas is more than 150 years old, still needs to be expanded to cover 180,000 people. As of 2016, the system had more than 2,800 kilometers of pipelines, 35 pumping stations, and a pretreatment plant.

Our objective in this project, which is based on an earlier plan from 1992, was to analyze the current situation and lay the groundwork for the development of sanitation and drainage systems with a 2050 horizon. We faced the challenge of integrating watercourse management and urban drainage into strategic planning.

Project Scope

The master plan addressed various aspects, from urban development and water resource management to environmental and economic-financial aspects. As part of the project, we analyzed alternatives for future action and drew up preliminary projects for the first stage of the works.

The main lines of action we defined focused on:

• Rehabilitation of the existing system, prioritizing the oldest networks.
• Expansion of the system to increase coverage in outlying areas.
• Management of water courses to improve their quality.
• Flood mitigation in urban areas.
• Improvement of the final disposal system.
• Optimization of organizational, institutional and financial management.

This work allowed us to define a clear roadmap for the future of sanitation and drainage in Montevideo, preparing the city for growth and improving the quality of life of its inhabitants.