Energy-Efficient Blowers Are Helping Clean The Riachuelo River

Matanzas Riachuelo Basin is home to more than 4.5 million people, as well as numerous industrial activities, including more than 60 tanneries. Many of these tanneries are small or mid-sized businesses that lack the capital to invest in effluent treatment. As a result, for decades these and other businesses have been pouring millions of gallons of untreated wastewater directly into the river.

Leathermaking is a major part of Argentina’s economy. But while tanneries thrive, those who live near the Matanzas Riachuelo Basin have struggled for decades. The Riachuelo River is one of the most polluted in the world, and a major part of the pollution comes from tannery effluent.

Thankfully, a long-awaited project, the Curtidor Industrial Park (PIC), aims to change that. In addition to housing the tanneries in the area, the PIC will include a dedicated industrial wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) designed specifically to process tannery effluent. It uses state-of-the-art technology to treat the particularly toxic waste, including energy-efficient turbo blowers that will both keep costs down and further reduce the region’s environmental impact.