Water and wastewater infrastructure in Brăila County, Romania, will be upgraded and extended in a continuation of previous investments. Supplying good-quality drinking water and reducing sewage leaks will protect the population’s health and ensure compliance with EU Directives.
- 17 March 2021
The project will improve the operation and maintenance of water and wastewater systems in the area’s four water-supply systems and 14 agglomerations. The SCADA supervisory and control system will be extended to all new and rehabilitated infrastructure to improve the quality of service to consumers and reduce expenses for the beneficiary.
Better connections and fewer losses
Within the project area, 70.27 % of the county’s population currently has access to potable water that complies with the Commission’s Drinking Water Directive. The aim is to increase this to 98.69 % (199 789 people), with further future investments raising this to 99.44 %.
Furthermore, the goal is to reduce water losses from 41.94 % before the work started, to 25.27 % by the end of the project’s operational phase in 2047.
Other problems include high operation and maintenance costs, partly due to difficulties in accessing some of the pipes to carry out repairs.
Work on the water supply network will involve rehabilitating 44.9 km of water mains, two reservoirs and 130.2 km of distribution network. One new drinking-water treatment plant and one new groundwater well will be built, along with 22 chlorination stations, 16 new pumping stations and 12 reservoirs. In addition, 333.9 km of new water mains and 147.4 km of new distribution network will be installed.
Improving low wastewater compliance
Currently, 81.50 % of the population is connected to the sewerage system. However, only 6.05 % benefit from wastewater collection and treatment that complies with the EU’s Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive. The project aims to increase this to 96.30 %.
In addition, the Brăila and Movila Miresii treatment plants do not meet required standards and the sewerage network in the areas they serve is in poor condition. Pumping stations are affected by power failures and lack self-cleaning screens, which automatically remove solid matter and large objects from the sludge.
Work will be carried out in 14 agglomerations: Brăila, which has a population equivalent (PE) above 10 000, and 13 others with PEs of between 2 000 and 10 000. They are Şuţeşti, Movila Miresii, Vădeni, Ulmu, Zăvoaia, Bărăganu, însurăţei, Ianca, Mircea Vodă, Făurei, Jirlău, Gropeni and Tichileşti.
A total of 30.5 km of sewerage network will be rehabilitated. Two new wastewater treatment plants will be constructed, one for a PE of over 10 000 and another for one of between 2 000 and 10 000. Eighty-five pumping stations will be built and 410 km of pipeline laid.
The project includes control systems – software, licences, staff training and computers – and operating and maintenance equipment.
Socio-economic development
The project will ensure compliance with the EU’s Drinking Water Directive and Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive and create conditions for socio-economic development in Brăila County.
More people – and institutions – will have access to compliant drinking-water and wastewater services. The installation of a SCADA system will enable better centralised operation as well as speeding up the detection of problems and fixing of leaks. This will ensure better service for consumers, fewer water losses and reduced expenses for the beneficiary.
Fewer sewage leaks into the environment and groundwater will reduce pollution and health risks to the population. A total of permanent 23 jobs will be created during the project’s implementation and operating phases.
This project follows on from three previous investments in water and wastewater infrastructure in Brăila between 1995 and 2015.
Total investment and EU funding
Total investment for the project “Regional Development Project Water and Wastewater Infrastructure in Brăila County” is EUR 285 925 392, with the EU’s Cohesion Fund contributing EUR 192 421 296 through the “Large Infrastructure Operational Programme” for the 2014-2020 programming period. The investment falls under the priority “The development of environmental infrastructure based on an efficient management of resources”.