Hansol Paper announced on 18 September 2026 that it has completed a wastewater infrastructure project in Ecuador's Santo Domingo region, delivering 40 kilometres of sewer pipelines and a treatment facility with a daily capacity of 20,000 tons 아시아경제. The work, launched in 2017, was financed through South Korea's Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) Seoul Economic Daily.
Key takeaways
- Project covers the Santo Domingo region of Ecuador and was built under the Korean government's EDCF 아시아경제.
- Scope: 40 km of sewer pipelines plus a 20,000-ton-per-day sewage treatment facility Seoul Economic Daily.
- About 190,000 local residents are expected to benefit once the facility is in operation 매일경제.
- Execution period ran roughly nine years from 2017 to 2026, complicated by COVID-19 and local business-environment changes 헤럴드경제.
- Hansol Paper's overseas environmental portfolio also includes projects in Nicaragua, Azerbaijan and Indonesia Chosunbiz.
What happened
The Santo Domingo target area lacked adequate sewage treatment infrastructure, which had allowed domestic and industrial wastewater to flow into local rivers and waterways 아시아경제. Hansol Paper, through its Environmental Business Division, was responsible for building the sewer pipelines and related environmental infrastructure, with the project beginning in 2017 Seoul Economic Daily.
The EDCF is a South Korean government policy fund that supports construction of economic and social infrastructure in developing countries and promotes economic cooperation with Korea 매일경제. Through the scheme, Hansol Paper constructed the 40 km of sewer pipelines and the treatment facility, which is designed to handle 20,000 tons of sewage per day and to systematically collect and treat wastewater generated in the area 헤럴드경제.
Once the new facility is in operation, it is expected to reduce pollutants flowing into the rivers and to benefit about 190,000 local residents through improved sewage treatment infrastructure Chosunbiz. A Hansol Paper official said, "This project is significant in that we were able to complete it stably through close cooperation with relevant agencies, despite various local conditions. Moving forward, we will continue to expand our domestic and overseas environmental infrastructure business by leveraging our accumulated technical expertise and project experience" 아시아경제.
The company completed the roughly nine-year project while navigating COVID-19 disruptions and shifts in the local business environment, keeping close coordination with the client and local agencies throughout the extended schedule 헤럴드경제. Alongside the Ecuador work, Hansol Paper cites completed projects including the Juigalpa Water Purification Plant in Nicaragua, the Azerbaijan Sewage Treatment Plant, the Batam Sewage Project in Indonesia, the Pyeongtaek Eco Center, a food-waste biogas project in the greater Seoul area, a private investment project for the Gimpo sewage treatment facility, and the Geumsan sewer pipeline maintenance project 매일경제.
Specification read
The reported plant size is 20,000 tons per day, which converts to roughly 20,000 m³/day or about 20 MLD 아시아경제. Using a standard domestic wastewater assumption of about 200 litres per capita per day (general industry range, not from the sources), 20 MLD would equate to a population equivalent in the rough order of 100,000 people; the 40 km of new sewer lines and 190,000 beneficiaries reported alongside it indicate a collection network sized to a wider catchment than the works plant itself Seoul Economic Daily. A municipal sewage build of this class normally runs through screening and grit removal, primary clarification, biological treatment (commonly A2O, MBR, MBBR, SBR or UASB depending on load and footprint), and tertiary polishing with disinfection before discharge or reuse Integrated Sewage Treatment. This project bears on the collection stage (40 km of pipelines) and on the secondary biological stage, with downstream pollutant-load reduction to local rivers as the stated environmental outcome 매일경제.
For an operator or municipal buyer: if your plant sits in the 15–25 MLD range, is fed by a collection network measured in tens of kilometres of sewer, and is being scoped to reduce river pollutant loads and lift service coverage for a population in the low hundreds of thousands, this is the kind of EDCF-financed new-build delivery benchmark that shapes lead times, contractor expectations and benefit-area reporting. Plants in the municipal catchment, including those in the Municipal segment and adjacent industrial water-reuse schemes, will see the Ecuador project cited as a reference for what a 20 MLD, 40 km-pipeline greenfield can be delivered against, and the Hansol Paper track record also reaches into the Paper and pulp sector, where DAF versus clarifier selection on the primary side is a recurring decision DAF vs Clarifier for Pulp & Paper Wastewater in Cullman: 2026 Guide; for plants already running biological and tertiary stages, evaporator and concentrator upkeep on the reuse loop is a separate procurement track MVR Evaporator Maintenance Guide 2026: Procedures, Schedules and Cost Control.
FAQ
What exactly did Hansol Paper build in Ecuador?
About 40 km of sewer pipelines and a wastewater treatment facility with a daily capacity of 20,000 tons, intended to collect and treat sewage that had previously been discharging into local rivers 아시아경제. The project was funded through the Korean government's EDCF and was carried out in the Santo Domingo region Seoul Economic Daily.
How long did the project take and what delayed it?
Work started in 2017 and was completed in September 2026, a span of roughly nine years 헤럴드경제. The sources cite the COVID-19 pandemic and changes in the local business environment as the main variables the contractor had to manage, with close coordination with the client and local agencies throughout Chosunbiz.
What is the expected service population once the plant is running?
About 190,000 local residents are expected to benefit from the improved sewage treatment infrastructure once the facility is in operation 매일경제. The sources describe the benefit in terms of reduced pollutants entering rivers and improved hygiene and living conditions for the Santo Domingo area 헤럴드경제.
Does this change how a buyer should plan a similar 20 MLD municipal scheme?
For a comparable 15–25 MLD greenfield, the Ecuador delivery is a useful reference on collection-network scale (tens of km of sewer) versus plant capacity, and on the realistic multi-year execution window when financed through government-to-government development funds (general industry range, not from the sources). Reported capex and lead-time figures are not provided in the sources, so any specific cost or schedule benchmark should be sourced from the procuring agency's own disclosures.
