„All governments after the changes do not pay attention at all to what we are alarming scientists about – that Bulgaria is falling into a semi-desert area, the climate is drying up and we need to pay attention to how to provide water for people“.
This is what the geologist and head of the Bulgarian polar expedition, Prof. Hristo Pimpirev, said about the water crisis in our country in the program „Face to Face“ on bTV.
He specified that there are all sorts of possibilities and technical progress allows for the provision of water even in completely desert areas, such as the United Arab Emirates.
„There is almost no rain there, but they turn sea water into fresh water – there is a technology for that. I recently sailed along the French coast of the Mediterranean Sea in a sailboat – they have built huge installations there for purifying sea water into fresh water. That is, they are preparing to have water, while here we do not pay attention“, the professor explained.
According to him, the problem is not recent – since the water regime under Sofia Mayor Alexander Yanchulev, in the early years of democracy.
„The problem in our country is that the water is dispersed in a variety of institutions. The dams, for example, which are the storage of drinking water and water for irrigation, are under the Ministry of Environment and Water (MESW), but there is a Water and Sewerage Authority, which is responsible for ensuring that the water reaches the taps. Our entire water supply network is extremely old – this is under the Regional Ministry. A water holding company has been created – yesterday they built a board“, said Prof. Pimpirev.
When everyone pulls the rug towards themselves, there is no way we can have water, the geologist summarized.
“The largest part of the water is lost in the water supply system. Over 60/70% of the water is lost in the water pipes, this is the Water and Sewerage Authority, which is a separate organization under the Ministry of Regional Development, while the dams are under another ministry and there is nothing to unite them. Here, let's hope that this board will do this“, he added.