Sabana Grande water plant sludge rehab: May 15 filing, no build permit
The Autoridad de Acueductos y Alcantarillados filed on May 15, 2026 to rehabilitate the sludge treatment system of the Sabana Grande Urbana filtration plant, on a property at Carretera 364, Rincón, Sabana Grande. The filing, an environmental compliance determination by categorical exclusion, is recorded as approved. No construction permit is on file, so the project is at an early stage.
A categorical exclusion certifies that a predictable or routine action needs no further environmental planning. It comes before a construction permit, and its approval does not show that any work has started.
What the authority proposes
The project, listed as CIP 5625016, would rehabilitate, modernize and expand the plant's sludge handling and treatment system. The filing lists land clearing, repairs to access roads, reinforced structures, replaced operating equipment, and upgraded electrical, lighting and safety systems.
It also describes automated chemical systems, new instruments and controls, added capacity through new structures and changes to existing tanks, and improved areas for dewatering and storing sludge before its final disposal. The filing says the work is funded by the Environmental Protection Agency's Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, from its supplemental appropriation for Hurricanes Fiona and Ian.
What has been filed since
On June 26, 2026, a general permit for electricity generators was filed for the plant on the same property, under the name PF Sabana Grande. It is recorded as incomplete, and it is the newest of the property's 8 permit filings. None of the 8 is a construction permit, and no later filing carries the project number.
The older filings on the property are four categorical exclusions under 2011 and 2012 case numbers, all recorded as issued, and two filings of a private owner's simple subdivision case from 2003, with replacement plans to change the lot's area.
The property covers 68,417 m2 (736,437 sq ft). The Puerto Rico Land Use Plan classes 77% of it as common rural land and 22% as urban land; 90% is zoned C-R, a resource conservation district, and 9% D-G, a district for institutional and civic facilities. No sale or listing of the property is on file.
