The second stage of an EU-funded project to renew and extend drinking water supply and waste water collection and treatment systems in Alba County, in Romania’s Centre region, is underway. The infrastructure serves the county seat of Alba Iulia, as well as the following areas: Abrud, Aiud, Arieșeni, Baia de Arieș, Bistra, Blaj, Bucerdea Grânoasă, Câmpeni, Crăciunelu de Jos, Galda de Jos, Ighiu, Lopadea Nouă, Lupșa, Mihalț, Mirăslău, Ocna Mureș, Roșia Montană, Sâncel, Sântimbru, Sohodol, Teiuș, Unirea and Zlatna.
Water systems in Romania’s Alba County rehabilitated and extended
- 01 June 2018
For waste water collection and treatment, 6.2 km of sewage pipeline are being renewed, while the network is being extended by 87.4 km. This is being done in seven clusters: Abrud, Aiud-Lopadea Nouă, Alba Iulia, Baia de Arieș, Blaj-Sâncel, Ighiu and Ocna Mureș-Unirea.
Two waste water treatment plants are under construction in Abrud and Baia de Arieș, as are 49 sewage pumping stations and pressure sewers to carry sewage to the pumping stations totalling 22.8 km in length. Procurement of 16 vehicles for transporting sludge and waste water is also planned.
A new intake structure
As regards drinking water supply, the project includes construction of a new water intake structure in Arieșeni, which withdraws water from the source and discharges it into a withdrawal conduit, through which it reaches the drinking water treatment plant. The structure has an intake capacity of 7 litres per second.
Upgrades are being made to two treatment plants, while a further 11 installations, including pumping, re-chlorination and storage facilities, and seven booster stations to increase water pressure, are being rehabilitated or built from scratch. A total of 115.4 km of water transmission main are to be either renovated or laid, 3.5 km of distribution infrastructure are to be rehabilitated and the distribution system is to be extended by 53 km.
Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems are also to be set up to monitor and control operations within both the water supply and the waste water systems.
Continued infrastructural development
The overall objective is to continue the development of water and wastewater infrastructure in Alba County by increasing the amount of waste water that is collected and treated and the supply of drinking water, and by improving the quality of the drinking water. This will ensure compliance with EU rules, particularly the 1991 Urban Waste Water Directive and the 1998 Drinking Water Directive. The former is intended to protect the environment from urban waste water and industrial discharge, and the latter aims to protect people’s health from contamination of water for human consumption.
As a result of the works, a further 106 494 people will be connected to the drinking water network, bringing the connection rate in the area to 94.8 % of the population. As far as waste water is concerned, the infrastructure will make it possible to treat to EU standards volumes equivalent to that produced by an additional population of 130 083. Together, the two elements will reduce public health risks and pollution.
Total investment and EU funding
Total investment for the project “Rehabilitation and extension of water and waste water systems in Alba county, (second stage)” is EUR 135 356 865, with the EU’s Cohesion Fund contributing EUR 86 619 302 through the “Large Infrastructure” Operational Programme for the 2014-2020 programming period.