New Pinheiros River

Rivers have historically been reference points for the establishment of communities and the basis for development since the earliest civilizations. With the city of São Paulo it was no different: the city emerged and prospered by over time through its integration with its rivers. The history of the Capital of the State of São Paulo is closely related to the Ribeirão Anhangabaú and the rivers Tamanduateí, Tietê and Pinheiros. In its 25 km long, the Pinheiros River collects waters from a 271 km² basin, in an area where 3.3 million people live.

All these were important, but in special the Pinheiros and Tietê Rivers were protagonists in the formation process of the city of São Paulo. The city developed around the rivers and the population has always interacted and coexisted with them.

With the increase in the population of São Paulo throughout the 20th century, the Pinheiros River had its length channeled and straightened, its channel deepened, and its waters pumped upstream to the Billings Reservoir. However, these changes brought serious consequences: pollution increased and the river became unfavorable for aquatic life and unfit for navigation.

New Pinheiros River

At a time when the world turns to sustainability and the maintenance of life on the planet, such an important asset for the quality of life of the population of the city of São Paulo, the Pinheiros River has stimulated the engagement of numerous public and private actors and in 2019 a revitalization project is launched under the leadership of the Government of the State of São Paulo and by the Basic Sanitation Company of the State of São Paulo - SABESP.

The New Pinheiros is one of the Strategic Projects of the Secretariat of Infrastructure and Environment of the State of São Paulo in line with the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations Agenda 2030 with the goal of cleaning up the river through the following actions: Sanitation, Desilting, Solid Waste, Revitalization with the implementation of the Linear Park, modernization of the São Paulo Plant. The project is also in line with the dissemination of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) practices, one of the pillars of which is environmental and among its goals is the importance of rescuing the quality of the rivers.

The project that is being executed and is expected to be finished this year foresees the increase of the collection networks and the sewage treatment in the basin, as well as the implementation of Water Recovery Units, called WRUs. In the water quality recovery units, the system collects the contaminated water, treats it, and returns it to the river.  

Five Water Recovery Units - WRUs will be implemented near the streams: Jaguaré, Pirajussara, Antonico, Cachoeira and Água Espraiada. The work is expected to be completed by the end of the second semester of 2022 and to remove 1,560 liters of sewage per second.

Using the sanitation service to improve water quality is the action of this major undertaking. And in this context, the Coester Group and its technologies make up the various engineering solutions to improve water quality in Brazil and abroad.

More life to Pinheiros River - some results already achieved by the New Pinheiros Project

• According to the Government of the State of São Paulo, by April 2022, more than 500 thousand properties had already been connected to the sewage treatment system;
• The aquatic life in Pinheiros River is slowly being restarted;
• The interventions for the revitalization of the region through the environmental and landscape recovery of its surroundings are advancing;
• In all, R$ 4 billion have been invested in this project for the recovery of the Pinheiros River and its depollution, according to the Secretariat of Infrastructure and Environment (SIMA);
• Also according to data from the Secretariat of Infrastructure and Environment from March 2022, 85% of the waters already have more oxygen and less pollution. Of the 13 monitoring points in the river, 11 have already presented the so-called BOD (Biochemical Oxygen Demand) below 30 mg/l, the minimum quantity for the water to have no odor, improve turbidity, and allow aquatic life.

Coester technology and solutions for the recovery of the Pinheiros water quality

Coester Automation is present in the program to clean up the Pinheiros River by supplying 24 intelligent electric actuators installed in the treatment systems, applied to blowers, water intake, and sludge intake, distributed in the Quality Recovery Units - QRUs of Pirajussara, Águas Espraiadas, and Cachoeira.

The Water Recovery Units collect contaminated water, perform the treatment and return it to the river, improving the quality of aquatic life and of the people of the city of São Paulo. Scheduled for completion by the end of 2022, the five Recovery Units (RUs) will remove 1.5 thousand liters of sewage per second from the Pinheiros River and its streams.

Requalification and integration with the city

• One of the axes of the New Pinheiros River Program is to promote the revitalization of the surrounding area, by means of several actions.
• Maintenance of bicycle paths in connection with bus, subway, and CPTM stations;
• Renovation of the São Paulo Plant, in an area of almost 30,000 m² that in the future will house attractions such as restaurants, stores, an open-air cinema with the largest screen in Latin America, offices, a rooftop with cafes and restaurants, a gazebo with a 360º view, and a gym, among others.
• A linear park, to be called Bruno Covas, with two sections: the first with 8.2 km between the headquarters of Pomar Urbano and Cidade Ponte Jardim, on the west bank of the canal, and the second with 8.9 km, between Cidade Ponte Jardim and the CPTM Retiro area.

References: https://alosaopaulo.com.br/rio-pinheiros-em-fotos-a-historia-do-antigo-jeribatiba/ https://www.engeform.com.br/engeform-engenharia-assina-em-consorcio-novo-contrato-com-a-sabesp-que-contribuira-com-a-despoluicao-do-corrego-pirajussara/ http://portalclubedeengenharia.org.br/2021/02/12/a-geracao-tratamento-e-destinacao-dos-lodos-das-urqs/ http://www.aesabesp.org.br/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/novo-pinheiros-webinar.pdf https://api.mziq.com/mzfilemanager/v2/d/9e47ee51-f833-4a23-af98-2bac9e54e0b3/6d9dc2f4-8ec0-9996-d8ba-c2a23887be60?origin=2 https://agendaitu.com.br/forca-tarefa-quer-garantir-presenca-de-peixes-no-rio-pinheiros-em-dois-anos/