WASH Central and Eastern Europe, West and Central Asia

In order to fulfil the requirements of the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive of EU, a National Program for Priority Construction of Urban Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) in Bulgaria has been developed. 104 settlements with a population over 10,000 equivalent inhabitants are identified to be covered by the Program. There are operating WWTPs in 25 of these settlements; some of these need reconstruction. The Program identifies 36 priority projects on the basis of the following specific criteria:

National or trans-boundary impact of the project;

Emission condition and category of the water receiving body;

Point of discharge of the untreated waste water. Higher priority is given to urban WWTPs in zones with damaged environmental status, where the water quality in the water recipient does not correspond to the designed category; in zones used for drinking water supply; in the upper stretch of the water current of the recipient, in protected areas or areas with vulnerable ecosystems;

Number of equivalent inhabitants of the populated area where the plant will be operating;

Degree of completion and usefulness of the existing sewerage system and the intake collector to the site of the future treatment plant;

Degree of completion of the treatments plants under construction;

Presence of a designated site for the urban WWTP, design readiness and decision on environmental impact assessment;

Necessary capital costs for the realization of the staged and overall bringing into operation of the plant and comparison to the expected environmental effect.

Gradual replacement of the worn-out sewerage network, completion of the sewerage network in the large settlements, extending of the existing and construction of new sewerage pipe lines in the settlements, which are located nearby sensitive ecosystems and touristic resorts;

Construction of all priority urban WWTPs, identified in the National Program for Construction of Urban WWTPs;

Increase of the share of treated waste water corresponding to the requirements of EU Directive 91/271 up to around 64%;

Shift of 36 % of the monitoring stations to higher category.

The latest Water Act . (SG 67/1999 into force since 28.01.2000) has gone over many revisions by now. The water legislation aims to introduce all requirements of the Framework Water Directive of the EU into the Bulgarian legislation. According to the new Water Act, water management follows several main principles:

Water on Bulgarian territory is a national integral natural resource;

Water basin is the main unit of integrated quality and quantity management of surface and ground water;

Co-operation at all levels of management is based on the Solidarity Principle i.e. respect of public interest and based on a transparent decision-making process;

Implementation of the Polluter pays principle and other economic regulators in water use and water protection practices.

The Water Act introduces the water management levels: national and river basin, and indicates the way of identification of water basins areas. The Water Act forms the legal framework for incorporation in national water legislation the requirements of the Water Framework Directive of the EU and provides the legal basis to adopt the other ‘daughter’ EU Directives through various regulations. Some regulations have been already adopted and implemented. The development of specific acts and regulations to complete the introduction of all requirements of the EU Directives, as well as the terms for that were set in a national program for accession. It’s updated version was approved by Bulgarian Government. The Decree setting up the charges on water use is extremely important for the development of the Bulgarian policy of the water and sanitation sector. It has been enforced since 2001. The charges for right to use water and/or permitting use of water object are one of the instruments to achieve the goal declared in the Water Act: ‘An uniform and balanced water management serving the interests of the society, protecting people’s health and supporting country’s sustainable development’. The charges address the use of the water as a natural resource and its value as such. The adopted level of charges determines the differentiation of the charges in accordance with the objectives of water use in the specific water basin. It is related to the overall influence of water use on water as a natural resource.

A number of institutions have responsibilities in the field of water and sanitation management in Bulgaria. Quite a few of them make decisions on one way or another that may directly influence water supply and sanitation:

Council of Ministers is responsible to:

Approve the National Water Economic Plan;

Grant concession for water of public state property;

Approve national programs on protection and sustainable use of water;

Set restrictions to water use, in exclusive cases, for specific regions of the country;

Set tariffs on grounds stipulated in the Water Act.

Ministry of Environment and Water (MOEW) is responsible for the following activities among others:

Develop the state policy in the field of protection and use of water;

Approve the river basin management plans;

Draw up national programs on protection and sustainable use of water;

Issue permits for water use;

Organize the maintenance of water and drinking water cadastre;

Approve design parameters and schemes of economic water systems and water facilities;

Publish methodology on control of water resources, sustainable use of water and determination of exploitation of ground water resources.

Development of the legislative and regulatory framework for water management, accidental discharges to the environment and management of the risk of industrial incidents, horizontal legislation, adaptation of the national legislation to the European Union acquis communautaires;

Elaborating of decisions on the environmental impact statements for large plants and activities of national importance.

Division Water in the MOEW:

Coordinate the activities of the river basin directorates;

Assess projects on provide expert opinion on EIA;

Plan and assist water investments.

The National Environmental Protection Fund:

The National Environmental Protection Fund (NEPF) is a department in the structure of the MOEW. The NEPF is the main source of funds for co-financing of projects with international funding and projects implemented with local financing. Monitoring and control mechanisms are used by the experts from the Fund to supervise the full cycle of the investment projects.

The Executive Environmental Agency is a specialized body of MOEW. The Agency is responsible of the following main tasks among others:

Organizes and manages the national water monitoring system;

Carrying out of the monitoring and the analytical-laboratory activities;

Elaborating the methodological guidelines for the Regional Inspectorates as regards the measurements and the analyses;

Collecting and processing the information and issuing information bulletins about the state of the environment and water;

Preparing and publishing of the Yearbook for the State of Environment in Bulgaria.

Under the MOEW, there are 15 Regional Inspectorates for Environment and Water (REI). The main functions of these Regional Inspectorates include:

Carrying out of the control over the observation and the implementation of the legislation in the environmental and water sector;

Supporting the municipalities in the preparation and implementation of the municipal policy in the field of environmental and water protection;

Informing the public about the state of the environment and water;

Issuing decisions on environmental impact assessments for sites and activities of regional importance; issuing permits for activities and installations for treatment of water.

According to the requirements of the Water Act, 4 Basin Directorates as top managerial bodies for integrated water management, covering the territory of the country are established:

The Danube Basin Directorate;

The Black Sea Basin Directorate;

East Aegian (Mediterranean) Basin Directorate;

West Aegian (Mediterranean) Basin Directorate.

Other national bodies responsible for variety of aspects of water and/or sanitation management are:

Ministry of Health monitors quality of the drinking water; monitors the quality of bathing water.

Ministry of Agriculture, Forests and Land Reform carries out activities related to the protection of water from contamination of nitrates and variety of chemicals linked to agricultural production.

Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works implements the national policy for design, building and operation of water supply and sewerage pipelines.

The local governments play an important role in the process of planning and implementation of variety of programs and projects in environmental, water and sanitation sectors. Their main functions include, among many others:

Responsibility for the construction, maintenance and operation of urban waste water treatment plants;

Inform the public about the state of environment, water and sanitation.

There are too many institutions (Ministry of Environment and Water, Ministry of Regional Development and Construction, Ministry of Agriculture, Agency of Energy Production and Supply) at national level that share the responsibility of water quantity usage and water quality. And there is a traditional, inherited from the era of communism, lack of coordination, lack of transparency and lack of access to information, not only to the public but also among state institutions.

To realize an effective application of public efforts and views, it is necessary to clarify the rights, obligations and responsibilities of each party in the sphere of water supply and sanitation. The central government shows its commitment to find a solution via the new Water Act and its revisions. Water supply and sanitation is stated to be a priority of the legislative, as well as the executive central authorities of Bulgaria.

Equal access to water supply and sanitation has to be provided for everyone, nevertheless the expenses. All populated areas, farms, companies, etc. should have unregulated water supply and safe sanitation. Water supply system should be built in a way that all citizens, mansions, regions and farms have access to it. The water supply should be built according to the consumption in the given area and needs of the consumers, and not carried out in compliance with the convenient technological conditions as it used to be in the past. Water supply systems have to be built also for the settlements in the mountains, as well as in isolated agricultural areas. Both authorities and public share the opinion that all people, from the large and the small settlements, should have equal access to drinking water of high quality at acceptable cost, compared to their income.

Sanitation is a component of the human, social and economic development and is provided in all Bulgarian cities. It is necessary that the sanitation system includes all industrial zones and the areas of relaxation. The authorities should do their best to allocate financial resources to provide sewage treatment. The urban sewage treatment plants would protect natural water sources. Effective flood management has to be introduced. Special attention should be paid to the balance in the development of the services in urban and rural areas including the villa zones of the cities. Sanitation systems have to be built in the villages, especially in those that are technologically easily accessible to the sewage treatment plants in a bigger nearby settlement.

The central government had developed after 2000:

National Programme for Municipal Wastewater Treatment in the Republic of Bulgaria;

Strategy of Unified Management of Water and Sanitation;

Strategy of Water Resources Usage and Water Protection;

National Strategy for Environment;

National Strategy for the Environment and Action Plan (2000-2006);

National Strategy to Combat Drought.

The central government had joint:

Convention on Protection and Usage of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes (Helsinki, 1992), signed, not ratified yet;

Convention on Protection of the Black Sea, ratified 1994.

Convention on Co-operation for Protection and Sustainable Use of the Danube River, signed 1994;

Agreement between the Republic of Bulgaria and the Republic of Greece for the Usage of the Mesta River, signed 1996.

Among these unserved in Europe are 40% of Bulgarian population living in the rural areas (Source Bulgaria: Survey on Rural Development Needs, ECSSD - Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development Europe and Central Asia Region, World Bank, 2004).

The total of 2.3% of rural communities has some elements of sewer systems and there are no wastewater treatment facilities at all in rural areas. In general, sewerage systems only exist in the municipal centre where most of the population lives. The existing rural infrastructure is in a very poor condition (Source Bulgaria: Survey on Rural Development Needs, ECSSD - Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development Europe and Central Asia Region, World Bank, 2004 ).


Rural public toilet		Open defication in the center of a village

In conformity with these facts, health indicators are much worse in rural areas, compared to urban areas, including maternal mortality: urban 16.5 and rural 25.5 per 100,000 live births (for the year 2001) ((Source National Statistical Institute, Annual Report, 2002).


Rural school toilet		School toilet built by NGO Earth Forever

In the context of this reality, it is awkward that neither sanitation nor wastewater issues are part of the national Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The published MDGs report declares that 100% of the population has access to adequate sanitation (Source Millennium development goals report for Bulgaria, 2003, UNDP).


Waterless urinal		Dry urine-diverting toilet

Earth Forever in partnership with WECF, WASTE and TUHH has implemented a pilot project in Stara Zagora Municipality in 2 villages: Sulitsa and Stara Zagora Spa. Within the framework of the project, based on detailed survey of wastewater, human waste and waste situation, needs and practices, the following pilot technologies were introduced:

dry urine-diverting toilets with separate treatment of urine and feces in households and in public buildings;

small scale home composting of organic wastes, incl. humanure;

planted soil filters for grey water treatment;

reuse of treated grey water and sanitized human urine and feces in small-scale backyard agriculture.

Author: Diana Iskreva-Idigo