Rehabilitation and Retrofitting of Water Supply Systems in Western Part of Romania

Abstract

In Romania, there are more than 13,000 localities of which only 10% are equipped with centralized water supply systems at European standards. In the western area of Romania, there is a district operator, which manages the water supply and sewerage systems. It started working on upgrading and rehabilitating water supply systems by accessing European funds, to meet the quality requirements imposed by European legislation. In the first stage, 15 water supply systems were refurbished with works performed in urban and rural parts of western part of Romania. In the second and third stages, investments will continue for the rehabilitation and upgrading of all the western localities, which do not meet the quantitative and qualitative conditions of potable water with European standards. Water resources need to be managed very well, especially in the context of climate change, with water sources having to provide ever growing flow to consumers. The paper shows what are the problems of the centralized water supply system of three localities in western Romania, and how we resolved them. The aim of the study is to analyse the efficiency of the current water supply system and to identify the causes that lead to the qualitative deterioration of drinking water distributed to consumers in populated centres. Laboratory determinations for samples of treated water were performed. Based on these laboratory determinations, corrections were made to ensure that the drinking water complies with current regulations (458/2002 Drinking Water Act and completed with Law 311/2004). The retrofitting and rehabilitation of the existing water supply system of the locality resulted on the basis of these analyses. The flow captured from underground source should be increased. To ensure the flow of water to consumers, the existing drilling and extension of the capture front will be rehabilitated. Rehabilitation of the water supply system will bring a real benefit in terms of quality of life according to environmental restrictions under Directive 98/83 / EC.