Nearly 60% of water is lost through the outdated network in our country. This is also the reason why a number of settlements are on a water regime almost all year round, with their number increasing in the summer. The largest settlements without water in our country are in the Veliko Tarnovo region, informs bTV.
The largest village in the Veliko Tarnovo region - Resen, has been on a water regime for 14 years. Due to heavy rainfall and high water in the spring this summer, the regime has been eased - they only turn off the water after 11 p.m. and turn it on again at 6 a.m.
However, the old network breaks down every day and over 2,000 residents of the village are left without water for hours in the August heat.
“There has been no water in the village for a long time. I can't say exactly what the regime is like - they turn it off when there are accidents, they turn it on when there are accidents. There are leaks in five or six places in the center, they turn it off again, they turn it on again. The pipes are made of Eternit, they allow them to burst. When the water jet hits, the pipe bursts somewhere. When they turn on the water, we fill our containers, and from there on - we wait for them to turn it on again“, says Ivan Yanchev, a resident of Resen.
There is an approved project for the design and replacement of the 40-kilometer water supply network in the village under the Investment Program for Municipal Projects. The project costs over 15 million euros and the allocation of funding for it has been postponed for another year.
“There is a regime - water, electricity, there is a regime. It gets even worse. When you don't have water, how are you going to bathe, can you stand around dirty?“, says Detelin Dinkov, a resident of Resen.
At the moment, there are 16 settlements in the Veliko Tarnovo district that are on a water regime. On average, water losses in our country exceed 60%, but the largest losses over the past year were in the Pernik and Shumen districts - over 83%.
The top five in terms of water losses also include the districts of Sliven with 81.39%, Sofia district and Pazardzhik. In Pleven, where the water regime lasted for months, over 71% of the water supplied to the region is lost along the network, the regulatory commission reports.
„The old infrastructure with many leaks, accidents and, accordingly, water is lost along the route. But there is another reason, which is also not so expert and obvious. This is the measurement. In Bulgaria, we do not measure precisely enough, and in many places we do not even measure the quantities that enter the system and which are de facto used. And that is why, when we talk about percentages and quantities, I always say that for me these are analytical data. That is, these are historical data that we carry over from year to year. And in reality, we do not have a very clear idea of what the losses are, the so-called unaccounted water quantities“, commented Eng. Ivan Ivanov- Chairman of the Bulgarian Water Association- "BAV".
With the change in climate conditions and droughts, the European Union also wants a reaction from the countries, namely to deal with the losses in a short time. The solution to this problem is investments.
“There are no funds, because the popular saying is that the prices of water and sanitation services are low. But these, how should I say, the prices and revenues that water and sanitation operators receive, largely cover their electricity and labor costs. There is the largest percentage ratio in the expenditure part and there are not enough funds left for investments“, says Eng. Ivan Ivanov.
The most important thing, according to experts, is to replace all the supply pipes.
“In fact, the water supply system consists of supply water pipes, which bring water from the water source to the settlements, and an internal network. If we assume that the internal network is more of a commitment of individual water supply operators, then large supply water pipes – it is difficult for one water supply operator to handle. First, because they are large infrastructure facilities, they are state property, even if given for exploitation by individual water supply operators, and require greater capacity – both financial and expert. Therefore, in my opinion, efforts should be directed there and losses should be reduced there, this infrastructure should be improved“, points out an expert.
Drought also poses a danger to irrigation. In our country, the drying up of the Danube is a problem only for the cooling of the Kozloduy NPP.
„I recently did an analysis related to irrigation, and it turned out that in fact we as a country use the waters of the Danube for irrigation minimally, if not at all. For various reasons, while Romania uses. That is, this will not lead to an additional crisis in irrigation in Bulgaria, but the risk remains for the cooling of Kozloduy. And as in some other countries nuclear power plants had to be stopped, if the Danube continues to decrease its level, it may also reach what is already supercritical for the electrical system. Why is the Danube decreasing? Yes, of course, the dry period. Perhaps the increased consumption precisely for irrigation and other needs that are outside Bulgaria before it reaches“, the expert points out.