By modernising the water infrastructure of Romania’s Satu Mare County, an EU-funded project is providing more residents with access to clean drinking water and a safe sewage system.
- 20 December 2017
Clean drinking water is a key to good health and proper wastewater disposal is a key to good sanitation. By refurbishing, expanding and modernising Satu Mare County’s drinking water supply system and its waste water collection and treatment systems, this project is providing both to 173 447 local residents.
Located in Romania’s Nord-Vest Region, in the north west of the country, Satu Mare County includes the townships of Satu Mare, Carei, Negrești-Oaș, Tăsnad, Livada, Ardud and Căpleni.
Clean drinking water
The project aimed to provide a reliable source of clean drinking water for the entire population of the project area, reduce the risk to human health caused by unsanitary wastewater, and decrease the level of environmental pollution caused by the current system.
As to the County’s drinking water system, the project rehabilitated three water intake points and built four new wells. It also refurbished 4.6 km of the system’s main transmission pipelines and extended the distribution network by 13.3 km. It renovated the drinking water treatment plants in the townships of Negrești-Oaș and Tăsnad, along with building a new plant in Livada. It also oversaw the procurement for and implementation of two supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems.
Safe water treatment
As to the waste water collection and treatment component of the project, work included extending the sewage system by 40.6 km and rehabilitating 4.5 km of the existing system. It also built and refurbished a total of 22 wastewater pumping stations.
Big benefits
This project represents the conclusion of Phase II of a larger infrastructure project, the first part of which was funded during the 2007-2013 programming period. With the completion of Phase II, 97 % of the population of the project area is now connected to the drinking water network and are reaping the benefits of having reliable access to quality drinking water. Furthermore, with 91 % of the population now connected to the sewage system, the risk of uncontrolled discharge of waste water has been significantly reduced.
The next phase will see the construction of new wastewater treatment plants in Tăsnad, Ardud and Livada, along with the modernisation of the plants in Satu Mare and Negrești-Oaș.
Total investment and EU funding
Total investment for the project “Extension and modernisation of water supply and waste water treatment systems in Satu Mare County - Phase II” is EUR 19 362 644, with the EU’s Cohesion Fund contributing EUR 12 695 675 through the “Large Infrastructure” Operational Programme for the 2014-2020 programming period.