Aena is preparing a major upgrade of the toilet flushing systems at Ibiza Airport, with 198 automatic flush mechanisms set to be replaced by manual systems designed to reduce water consumption by an estimated 30% to 35%.

The project has a second objective beyond saving water. According to Aena's project documentation, reducing the amount of water used in the airport's toilets should also reduce the volume of wastewater reaching the airport's own treatment plant, which the company acknowledges is currently overloaded during peak months.

The planned work comes after a summer in which problems with airport toilets, including facilities being closed or out of service and reports of water losses, attracted public attention.

198 Toilet Flush Systems Will Be Replaced

The project covers 198 flush mechanisms throughout the passenger terminal.

The affected toilets are distributed across several key areas of the airport, including the public zone, departures, arrivals, baggage reclaim and check-in areas.

The work is more substantial than simply replacing the visible buttons or flush controls.

According to the technical documentation, the existing toilet fixtures will have to be dismantled, the current mechanisms removed and sections of walls opened to install new concealed flush boxes and pipes.

Once the new systems are installed, the walls and finishes will have to be rebuilt and the toilets reassembled.

Aena Expects Water Savings of Up to 35%

The principal objective is to reduce water consumption.

Aena estimates that the new manual systems will consume between 30% and 35% less water than the automatic flush mechanisms currently installed.

The estimate is based on historical consumption data from periods when similar manual systems were used at the airport.

For an airport handling millions of passengers a year, even a relatively small reduction in water consumption per toilet use can produce a significant overall saving.

The project is therefore being presented as both a water-efficiency measure and an infrastructure-management measure.

The Airport Has Its Own Water Supply

Ibiza Airport does not currently rely on the municipal water network for its main supply.

Aena says the airport is supplied through five authorised private wells, together with the recovery of rainwater from the airport's urbanised areas.

The company has also confirmed that the airport has requested a connection to the municipal water supply network.

Reducing consumption is therefore particularly relevant because the airport is currently managing its own water resources.

Aena Says Its Treatment Plant Is Overloaded During Peak Months

One of the most significant details in the project documentation concerns the airport's wastewater treatment plant.

Aena states that its own treatment facility is "currently overloaded during peak months."

The company says reducing water consumption from the toilets will also reduce the volume of wastewater entering the treatment plant.

The lower volume should, in turn, reduce the load placed on the facility during the busiest periods of the tourism season.

This is one of the clearest reasons given by Aena for changing the toilet flush systems.

The Airport Operates Its Own Wastewater System

Ibiza Airport is also largely autonomous when it comes to wastewater management.

The airport is not currently connected to the municipal sewage network and instead relies on its own wastewater infrastructure and treatment plant.

Aena has separately confirmed that the airport's sanitation system includes infrastructure for pipes, pits and other wastewater-related facilities.

This means that the airport needs to manage both its own water supply and the treatment of wastewater generated within the complex.

The Project Follows a Summer of Toilet Problems

The planned upgrade comes after a summer in which airport toilet facilities became a subject of complaints.

Passengers and workers reported toilets being closed, sanitary facilities being unavailable and water leaks in parts of the terminal.

Workers also reportedly said that staff had been required to spend additional time supervising or dealing with problems involving the toilets.

Aena has not stated that the new flush-system project was initiated because of those complaints.

The project documentation had already been prepared before some of the reported problems became public, meaning the connection between the summer incidents and the new works should not be assumed.

The New System Is Also Expected to Be More Reliable

Water savings are not the only advantage Aena attributes to the new manual mechanisms.

The airport operator says the new systems should be less susceptible to breakdowns because they are mechanically simpler than the automatic flush systems currently installed.

That could potentially reduce the number of failures affecting individual toilets.

The project therefore combines water-efficiency objectives with an attempt to improve the reliability of the facilities used by passengers and airport workers.

Work Can Take Place at Night

Because the toilets are located throughout an operating airport terminal, the work has to be carefully scheduled.

The tender documents allow construction work to be organised at night when necessary in order to minimise interference with normal airport operations.

The project will therefore need to balance construction requirements with the continued operation of the terminal.

This is particularly relevant at Ibiza Airport, where traffic remains high during the tourism season.

The Cost Figures Contain a Significant Discrepancy

The published project documentation contains two different figures for the cost of the works.

The technical specifications dated August 25 set a budget of €200,000 excluding VAT.

That figure includes €180,180 for the supply and installation of the 198 new flush mechanisms, €14,652 for removing the existing systems and €5,168 for safety and airport-related requirements.

However, a justification document signed six days later places both the base tender budget and the estimated contract value at €360,000 excluding VAT.

The subsequent administrative tender documentation retains the €360,000 figure, equivalent to €435,600 including tax.

The available documentation does not provide a clear explanation for the €160,000 difference between the two figures.

The Contract Duration Also Differs

There is another inconsistency within the published documents.

The technical specifications establish a four-month execution period from the formal start of the works.

Later documentation reduces the stated duration to three months.

As with the difference in the budget, the published documents do not clearly explain why the timetable changed.

The administrative conditions governing the contract specify which provisions take precedence in the event of inconsistencies.

A Larger Wastewater Contract Is Also Being Prepared

The toilet project is taking place alongside another important development involving Ibiza Airport's wastewater infrastructure.

Aena has recently put a €220,000 contract out to tender for cleaning and unblocking services.

The contract covers work including emptying, unblocking, pipe cleaning and maintenance of pits and other elements of the airport's sanitation network.

The tender was published on September 4, with offers due by September 14.

The existence of this separate contract highlights the scale of the airport's wastewater infrastructure and the maintenance required to keep the system operating.

Aena Says the Airport's Wastewater Problems Are Separate From Aircraft Waste

Aena has also clarified that wastewater generated by aircraft is managed separately from the wastewater produced inside the terminal building.

Aircraft wastewater is handled through the aircraft's sanitation systems and is serviced separately.

The airport's sanitation-maintenance contracts can nevertheless include services such as emptying aircraft-related facilities, cleaning pipes and maintaining pits.

This distinction matters because the airport's treatment plant and the toilet-water reduction project relate to the terminal's broader water-management system rather than meaning that all aircraft wastewater is processed in the same way as water from passenger toilets.

The Treatment Plant Has Come Under Greater Scrutiny

The acknowledgement that the treatment plant becomes overloaded during peak months comes after a summer in which the airport's wastewater system was placed under greater scrutiny.

There were reports concerning alleged discharges from the airport and questions over the management of wastewater.

Aena has avoided directly linking the new sanitation works to those reported incidents and has said that the airport operates independently from the municipal water and sewage networks.

The company has also stressed that the new toilet project is intended to improve service and reduce water consumption.

Reducing Wastewater Could Help During the Busiest Months

For Ibiza Airport, peak summer is the period when water use and wastewater production are at their highest.

The airport handles its largest passenger volumes during the tourism season, placing additional pressure on toilets, water supply and wastewater-treatment infrastructure.

Reducing the quantity of water used for every toilet flush could therefore have a noticeable effect on the total volume entering the treatment plant.

The measure does not expand the treatment facility itself. Instead, it aims to reduce the demand placed on the existing system.

Sustainability Is Becoming a Bigger Airport Issue

Water management is increasingly important for infrastructure operating on Ibiza, where water resources are under significant pressure during the summer.

Aena has a wider corporate target of reducing water consumption per passenger across its Spanish airport network and increasing the use of alternative water sources.

The Ibiza project fits within that broader approach, although its immediate justification is specific to the airport's own water supply and wastewater treatment system.

The Project Will Affect Toilets Across the Terminal

The scope of the work means passengers may see construction activity in different parts of the airport rather than in one isolated toilet block.

The 198 mechanisms are distributed throughout the terminal, including public areas, security and boarding zones, arrivals, baggage collection and check-in.

The work will require dismantling and rebuilding parts of individual toilet cubicles.

For that reason, Aena has included provisions allowing work to be carried out at night when needed to limit disruption.

What Happens Next?

The project will move through Aena's procurement process before the works begin.

The final contractor and definitive contract value will determine the practical timetable for implementation.

Once the work is carried out, the airport expects the new manual flush systems to reduce toilet-related water consumption by between 30% and 35%.

The longer-term objective is to reduce both the airport's demand on its own water resources and the volume entering the wastewater treatment plant during peak periods.

A Practical Response to Ibiza's Water Pressure

The project may appear modest compared with Ibiza Airport's much larger infrastructure plans, but it addresses an increasingly important issue for the island: water efficiency.

Replacing 198 toilet mechanisms is a relatively targeted intervention, yet Aena expects it to save a substantial amount of water over time.

It also acknowledges a pressure point within the airport's own infrastructure, with the wastewater treatment plant described in official project documentation as overloaded during peak months.

At the same time, unresolved discrepancies in the published budget and construction timetable raise questions about the procurement process that Aena will need to clarify.

For now, the airport's objective is straightforward: use less water, send less wastewater to treatment and improve the reliability of one of the terminal's most heavily used facilities.