WASH Central and Eastern Europe, West and Central Asia

The population is 7 million, 70% of the citizens living in the urban areas. The total amount of settlements is 5,376. The birth rate is low and the rate of population growth has been negative for years. The rate of migration is negative. Due to higher mortality rate, very low birth rate and emigration the population has been reduced by some 2 million people compared to 1989.


Handwashing Facility in UDD Toilet		Typical Village Pit Latrine

The climate varies from temperate in the North to Mediterranean in the South. The mean annual temperature varies from 10.0°C to 13.5°C in the lowlands, and reaches -3°C at the highest pick on the Balkans - Musala (the Rila Mountain). The highest monthly means rise up to 25°C in July and August. The absolute temperature maximums do not show significant differences between the North and the South and reach more than 45°C. The mean annual rainfall varies from 440 mm to 600 - 620 mm in the lowlands up to 800 - 1300 mm high in the mountains. The maximum mean monthly rainfall varies in different parts of the country: May - June in the North and November - December in the South. The minimum monthly mean rainfall comes in February to the North and in August to the South. The total mean rainfall is about 76.5 billion m3 per year in Bulgaria, 57% of it evaporates, 25.5% enters the river systems and 17.5% penetrates in the soil.

The rivers are generally small and most of them get dry almost every summer. Unfortunately, Bulgaria is among the poorest in water resources countries in Europe.

Internal water resources m3/capita/year: Albania 13,700 m3; Former Yugoslavia 5,840 m3; Greece 4,500 m3; Bulgaria 2,500 m3.

Internal and external water resources m3/capita/year: Albania 15,380 m3; Former Yugoslavia 16,670 m3, Greece 5,340 m3, Bulgaria 2,570 m3.

Exploitation Index: Albania 6%, Former Yugoslavia 7%, Greece 12%, Bulgaria 43%.

The mean natural river flow, without the surface effluent of the Danube, is about 19.5 billion cubic meters per year. In very dry years it is about twice less.

The dams are a very typical element of Bulgarian environment. There are more than 2000 reservoirs in the country, their total capacity is 6.6 billion cubic meters, 84.9% of it is in the biggest 48 of them. The total capacity of 1900 of the reservoirs is 0.7 billion cubit meters, each of them with a capacity less than 1 million cubic meters. Most of the largest dams in Bulgaria were built in 50s and 60s.

The ground water is responsible for 25-30% of the water resources in Bulgaria. The quantity of ground water is calculated to more than 8 billion cubic meters. There are more than 1,000 springs of mineralized and thermal water convenient for balneo resorts.

Though Bulgaria is poor in water resources, the consumption of water is quite high, the average usage is 400 square meters per citizen per year; including 137 liters per citizen per day for household needs. In the water supply system, the underground water/surface water ratio is 60:40. 98% of the population has access to piped water supply. At the same time 40% (and 50% of the population in the country) of the water supplied settlements have irregular water supply. This varies from settlement to settlement and in different seasons. At the same time the leakages from the water supply system is in average over than 50% and often reaches 60-70%, up to 85%. The very high consumption is determined by comparatively low technological level of industry and due to this very high water consumption for industrial needs, extremely high losses of water in water supply infrastructure through leaching, etc. If we take into consideration, the pollution of water resources, the situation is defines as risky for the social and economic development of the country. In other words, just small reduction of precipitation amount may lead to serious threads for economic development and everyday life of people.

The planned intermitted water supply is one of the main problems of population in many communities. This means that they do not have water supply for several hours each day or even do not have water every other day on annual schedule. The schemes may differ a lot depending on water availability, water pressure in the pipeline or altitude and inclination of the community/ neighborhood/ housing. In dry summers most of the villages practically may not have tapped drinking water supply for weeks.

While the water supply infrastructure is relatively well developed and covers almost all the population, there is a relatively low coverage by sewage system and urban wastewater treatment services.

Water Resources

Rivers and lakes – 70% of total water resources;

Groundwater – 30% of total water resources.

Average annual water usage of Bulgaria is 10-12 billion m3

Drinking water – 8-10%;

Irrigation – 5-35%;

Industry – 20-26%;

Hydropower – 15-35%.

Water Supply

About 98.6% of the population is served by centralized water supply systems, managed by water and sanitation companies;

The total length of water supply network managed by water and sanitation companies is 71900 km;

73% of drinking water pipelines are made of asbestos-cement pipes;

57% of drinking water pipelines are constructed before 1970, incl. 0.1% of the pipelines are new; 0.3% of the pipelines are renovated;

Average drinking water losses are 61.7% for the country;

About 44% of drinking water for population is treated in drinking water treatment plants.

Sanitation

49% of the population is served by centralized sewerage systems, managed by water and sanitation companies;

In 73.2% of the cities, 95% of the population is covered by centralized sewerage services;

In 2.4% of the villages, 9% of the population is covered by centralized sewerage services;

Total length of the sewers managed by water and sanitation companies is 10400 km;

About 85% of the sewers are of concrete or steel-concrete;

About 90% of the sewers are built before 1990;

About 64% of the wastewater is treated in 72 WWTPs;

41.1% of the population is served by WWTPs managed by water and sanitation companies;

Only 69 cities and towns are served by a WWTP;

The total number of WWTPs is 57; 44 of these are supplied with secondary (biological) treatment, the others are just mechanical;

Until 2015 Bulgaria must have 430 functioning WWTPs covering all settlements above 2000 p.e.

Financing water and sanitation

Necessary investment for water and sanitation sector is 9.1 billion EUR (7 billion EUR and 2.1 billion EUR for paying back the loans) to reach all the requirements of EU legislation for drinking water, wastewater and bathing water;

Expected financial sources:

Private capital - 1.7 – 2.8 billion EUR;

ISPA, Cohesion fond agriculture – 2.1 – 3.4 billion EUR;

State budget – 0.2 – 1.3 billion EUR;

International credit institutions – 0.5 billion EUR.