In the Western Costa Del Sol there is an added difficulty to the normal ones in any European coastal area: its popularity as a tourist destination. The population difference between holiday periods and the so-called "low season" means that water flows also vary. From more than 400,000 legal residents (with town hall documents proving their registration) the figure can reach 1,200,000 when tourists are included.

At the same time, as well as purification it is important to continue with another aim: the use of recycled water for watering, basically of golf courses and garden areas, stemming from the idea of the most rational management of water resources in an area like ours, which is within what is known as "dry Spain", with a volume of rainfall much lower than the north of the country.

The Integrated Sanitation Plan for the Western Costa del Sol dates back to the 70s and has been developed, with greater or less speed, since that time, experiencing a particular boost in the last fifteen years.
The region is divided into six sectors (Arroyo de la Miel, Fuengirola, La Cala de Mijas, Marbella - La Víbora, San Pedro - Estepona and Manilva) always following technical criteria, independently of municipal limits.

ACOSOL is in charge of a 100 km strip of land along the coast, fully dedicated to tourism industry. Therefore, this service is fundamental, motivating the development of an infrastructure integrating seven sewage treatment plants, where six of them already have Tertiary Treatment System, with capacity to serve a population between 25,000 and 300,000 inhabitants, with the exception of the plant in Casares, designed for 3,000 inhabitants and the only one located in the highland cornice, as the rest of interior cities are connected with sewers to the main sewage pipes, parallel to the coast, being the case of Mijas Pueblo, Benalmádena Pueblo and Ojén.

It’s worth pointing out that filtration and disinfection through UVA rays to finish with any viruses that might exist in the water is added to Tertiary System.

According to this, the six large Acosol Sewage Plants at the Costa del Sol will all be over the requirements of the EU.

Sewage capacity per capita of the ACOSOL EDAR (Waste Water Purification Stations)