00:00About 60 meters underground, at the depth of a 15-story building, lies one of the
00:05It's one of the largest engineering projects ever undertaken in Bogotá. It's a key component of the plan.
00:09to decontaminate the Bogotá River, which will become operational before the end of this year.
00:13This is the Canoas pumping station, which in practical terms is a gigantic
00:17hollow through which a pumping system was built that reaches the Tunjuelo interceptor,
00:21where the wastewater generated by 70% of Bogotá ends up.
00:35It has an investment of 372 billion pesos and will pump 32 cubic meters per second.
00:41which is enough to fill an Olympic swimming pool in one minute.
00:45The sanitary system always operates by gravity, meaning the water has to flow on its own.
00:51So one starts from a point that isn't very deep, but so that he can travel,
00:56Well, we need to put a slope in it so that it goes down, down, down, down.
01:01When it finishes making that journey, from where the collection of water begins,
01:08Here, we reach a depth of 45 meters. Therefore, it is necessary to build the pumping station.
01:15that raises these waters to the surface.
01:18The station is located on the Canoas property, in the municipality of Soacha,
01:21a few meters from the Bogotá River, where the construction of the treatment plant is also planned
01:26Canoas wastewater treatment plant, which is where most of the contaminated water will be treated
01:30that starts in Bogotá and all of Soacha and ends in the river.
01:34If you have passed by the Tequendama Falls or traveled through any of the sections of the middle and
01:39lower Bogotá River,
01:40It can show that the water is so polluted that it is cloudy, black, even full of foam.
01:45due to the amount of chemicals and waste that accumulate, as well as having a strong, similar odor
01:49like that of the egg, due to the high levels of hydrogen sulfide produced by the lack of oxygen
01:54in wastewater. To address this problem, in March 2014, the Council of State
01:59He ordered more than 30 public entities, including the mayoral offices of the municipalities
02:03Those living on the riverbank must take action to decontaminate, that is, to treat wastewater.
02:08The problem is that this particular project fell victim to the contracting carousel.
02:13during Samuel Moreno's administration and delays in execution that begin
02:17to be unblocked until now. First, the Tunjuelo Interceptor had to be built, which is
02:21the tunnel system that is more than 40 meters underground and that centralizes all
02:26the wastewater that will arrive at the treatment plant. Then, from land, there were
02:30which required opening two large holes to carry out this mega engineering project that was completed
02:35until 2018. This is a preliminary, necessary project for the subsequent treatment that
02:41It will be done with the Canoas Wastewater Treatment Plant. This project's primary function is to raise the water level.
02:48that come through the Tunjuelo-Canoas Interceptor at a depth of about 45 meters and be able to
02:55bring to the surface for future treatment. The designs were more or less ready to be implemented.
03:01in a year. These designs were implemented, construction began, which we started, let's say,
03:09because of the activities that were the most intense and that at that time was the critical path, which was the
03:14construction of the screening wells and the pumping well.
03:17The first is the Screening Well, which is 36.5 meters in diameter. It is a point where the waters
03:23residuals
03:23They go through a process similar to straining, in which all the residue is removed with a kind of
03:28mesh that does not allow solids larger than 6 centimeters to advance.
03:32There are two wells, one is for water cleaning and conditioning, the other is for pumping itself
03:38And the other is for receiving and distributing flows. So, in the first well we have
03:47systems that dampen the speed at which the water can come, since it is driven by gravity.
03:52We also have installed solids removal systems, for large solids that
03:59They come naturally in wastewater.
04:01The second well, which is the pumping well, has six large pumps that were specifically designed
04:06for the project in Germany, due to the high amount of water they will be handling and the conditions
04:11of elevation. The works are already more than 97 percent complete. Between October and November the plant
04:16The pumping station will be started up, so the separation of large waste and water will begin.
04:21The water that reaches the surface will be diverted to the Bogotá River while the treatment plant is being built.
04:25Since we are sure that all the equipment has its proper protections and is working,
04:32All possible tests were performed on both the mechanical and the...
04:38electrical part, as well as the protection part, which is the instrumentation and control part,
04:42The operational phase is coming. We're starting now with operational protocols, which basically
04:48These are monitoring controls; we have to monitor the temperature, the pressure, and the...
04:55sensors function properly, all based on the manufacturers' recommendations,
05:01based on our own experience with projects that have already been carried out in other parts of the world
05:07and in good engineering practices.
05:09Once the process is complete, the operation will be in the hands of Enel, while for
05:12Part of the aqueduct project is still pending the bidding process for the construction of the treatment plant.
05:17According to the district, the bidding process would be ready by August and at least four
05:21International consortiums are reportedly interested in the project. If all goes well, the city
05:25and Soacha would be treating its wastewater by 2033.
05:30Thank you!
05:32Thank you!
05:39Thank you!
05:40Thank you!
05:40Thank you!
05:40Thank you!
Comentarios