wastewater

Wastewater in Bogotá includes domestic sewage, greywater, industrial effluents, and stormwater runoff entering the city’s combined drainage network. Bogotá’s main wastewater-treatment facility is the El Salitre Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP), operated under the Bogotá River Restoration Programme. After its expansion, the plant deals approximately 7 m³/s of wastewater (equivalent to around 600000 m³/day) (AKTOR/CEPS Consortium, 2020).

Wastewater that is not captured or fully treated enters the three main urban tributaries—Salitre, Fucha, and Tunjuelo rivers—which flow into the Bogotá River. Historically, a large proportion of Bogotá’s wastewater was discharged untreated into these rivers, a pattern the treatment plant upgrades aim to reverse (World Bank, 2023).

Wastewater acts as a carrier of pollutants including suspended solids, organic matter, nutrients and pathogens. Untreated wastewater in Bogotá’s rivers contributes to severe deterioration of water quality, particularly in reaches downstream of informal settlements and underserviced areas (Environment & Society Portal, 2025).

AKTOR/CEPS Consortium (2020) Design and Build of the El Salitre Wastewater Treatment Plant – Phase II. Available at: https://aktor.gr/en/projects/design-and-build-of-the-el-salitre-wastewater-treatment-plant-phase-ii-in-colombia/ (Accessed: 1 December 2025).

Environment & Society Portal (2025) ‘Waste and water pollution – Bogotá’. Available at: https://www.environmentandsociety.org/exhibitions/water-bogota/waste-and-water-pollution (Accessed: 1 December 2025).