Sofia, Bulgaria - New European Member States Romania and Bulgaria address the looming impossibility of achieving their obligations under the EC Urban Waste Water Directive and Water Framework Directive. A roundtable table dialogue with the European Commission in Sofia was looking at solutions.

“How high will the sanctions be which the Bulgarian tax payers will have to pay for not fulfilling their requirements under the Urban Waste Water directive?” was one of the first questions posed to Mrs Bogdanova of the Bulgarian Ministry of Environment. Bulgaria has committed to assuring waste water treatment for all towns with 2000 to 10.000 inhabitants by 2014, but currently cost effective, feasible waste water systems have been built in Bulgaria.

Mr. Krasimir Zikov, Governor of the Sofia Oblast, welcomed the more than 85 representatives of Bulgarian and Romanian ministries, water operators, basin authorities, mayors, governors, NGOs, scientists, the World Bank, the European Commission and international experts from France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, United Kingdom and Slovakia. They met for a roundtable on "How to reach sustainable and cost effective sanitation and waste treatment in Bulgarian and Romanian rural areas”.

In Romania, it remains a great challenge to provide the more than 3000 communes which still need waste water systems before 2018. “Therefore we are so interested by this round table, as we need low-cost solutions to be able to achieve the targets of the urban waste water directive, and the water framework directive”, said Mrs. Ileana Vasilescu, from the Romanian ministry of Environment.

* Professor Duncan Mara of the University of Leeds presented small-bore sewers and low cost waste-water stabilization ponds – of which over 5500 ponds are in use in Germany and France – to provide waste water treatment to small communities in Bulgaria and Romania. These waste water systems cost around 50% less then conventional systems.

* Mr. Bloech commented on the fact that the Urban Waste Water Directive does not specify criteria for communities with less then 2000 inhabitants, nevertheless: “It is unethical to forget about the rural populations where people drink from their shallow wells their own waste water or that from their neighbours”. Mr. Bloech warmly welcomed the low-cost solutions of modern dry sanitation options which the NGO network WECF implements in pilot projects for schools and households in Bulgaria and Romania as a reliable interim solution until water supply and waste water treatment are installed.

* Engineer Andrea Albold, explained that – as no Bulgarian engineers could be found – she had been commissioned by WECF to design the first-ever constructed wetland waste-water system for a children’s home in Vidrare, in Pravetz municipality. “the technical design is ready, the money from the donor has been received, but, we cannot build, as we cannot get the permit.

* WECF presented a technical guide on decentralized cost-effective natural waste water systems at the conference, as a tool for local decision makers and water operators and engineers. The publication "Sustainable and cost-effective wastewater systems for rural and peri-urban communities up to 10,000 PE" is available in Bulgarian, Romanian and English at wecf.eu(1).

The full report on the roundtable can be found at wecf.eu(2).

Quelle: Women in Europe for a Common Future (WECF)

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