Maritime Services - Waste Agency
Water treatment plant adds incentive

A treatment plant for ships waste is located on the North Mole, operated by Slop Oil Reception and Treatment Ltd (S.O.R.T.) It can handle oily water (sullage) and grey waters both from vessels and land-based establishments. The plant meets the enhanced European Union discharge directive, which sets standards considerably higher than those of many existing facilities elsewhere.

The sullage treatment plant uses a six-stage process, including bioremediation, to produce a water discharge that conforms with EU and International Maritime Organisation (IMO) standards.

The plant receives oil wastes, grey water and other sullage both from vessels calling at Gibraltar and from the local industry. There are nine storage tanks with a total capacity of 900 cubic metres and the plant can process between 15 and 20 cubic metres per hour.