Croatia upgrades drainage and wastewater treatment

(28-02-2011)

Croatia is to join the European Union in 2012. This requires the country to implement European legislation and standards, including those for the transport and treatment of sewage and wastewater. Much attention is now being devoted to building new treatment plants and upgrading the existing facilities. Certain vulnerable regions, such as those which discharge water into the Adriatic, may require additional measures to ensure that water is treated to a very high standard. In this process, all nutrients are removed and the water is sometimes disinfected.

Witteveen+Bos has been retained by the Croatian government to determine the technical, institutional and financial viability of advanced water treatment methods. Business cases have been developed for three coastal towns, Cres, Poreč and Kaštelir-Labinci. They will give the client an accurate impression of the technological possibilities, the implications in terms of management and maintenance, and the costs.

Arid coastal region

The proposed solutions include both traditional ‘active sludge’ systems (high and low pressure), artificial wetlands (two-tier reed beds) and membrane bio-reactors (MBR). Because this is an arid coastal region, particular attention must be devoted to the reuse of treated water in agriculture, and to the areas with high discharge rates, generally those with a significant tourist population.

Institutional embedding

In many countries, constructing a new water treatment plant is not a particularly complex undertaking. The challenges are more in terms of operation and maintenance, because the required knowledge, skills and funds are not available. This project must therefore identify ways to embed the new facilities within (existing) management structures. It must also assess the financial viability. In each town, residents are being asked about their income, how much they would be prepared to pay for clean water, and the importance they attach to water treatment compared to various other forms of public expenditure. Witteveen+Bos will complete the study in March 2011.