6.2 – Sewer system

The Federal District Sanitary Sewage System, also under CAESB responsibility, is made up of 15 drainage sub-basins, linked to the Sewage Treatment Stations – ETE, belonging to four hydrographic basins: Paranoá, Descoberto, Corumbá and São Bartolomeu. There are 15 functioning ETE’s, 72 Raw Sewage Lift Stations – EEB and one Treated Sewage Lift Station – EET. Today, 89.29% of the urban population in the Federal District is served with sewage collection, with all collected sewage being treated. Of the sewage collected, 87% is treated to a tertiary level, which includes the removal of nutrients, which makes the Federal District sewage system different than those in other units in the Brazil federation. The main water bodies that receive the treated wastewater from the ETEs are the Paranoá Lake and the Descoberto River, which together receive about 75% of the total flow. In agricultural and urban households, where there is no sewage collection, the use of septic tanks prevails.