EU funding has made possible the launch of the second phase of a project to improve water supply and waste water systems in Romania’s Vaslui County, part of the North-East development region. Work under phase two includes construction of new water supply and sewage pipes and upgrades to existing network infrastructure.
- 20 December 2017
The infrastructure covered by the project’s second phase serves four urban agglomerations within Vaslui County – Vaslui, Bârlad, Huși and Negrești – and a population of around 179 000 inhabitants.
New water supply infrastructure totalling 115 kilometres in length is to be installed, while 23 kilometres of existing supply pipes are to be upgraded. Sewerage piping laid under phase two is 138 kilometres long and renovations are to be made to a further 19 kilometres of the sewer network.
Investments in a range of water-related infrastructure
Over both phases of the project, in addition to the rehabilitation, extension and construction of the water mains and the waste water network, improvements are being made to a range of other infrastructural elements. These include water sources, reservoirs, chlorination plants, water and waste water treatment plants, distribution networks and pumping stations.
The total budget for the project’s second phase comes to almost EUR 79 million. The EU’s contribution is just over EUR 51 million. EU financing of the first phase of the work was in the region of EUR 13.4 million.
Completion of the second phase is foreseen for April 2020. Once the infrastructure is in place, around 99 % of the inhabitants of the four towns and cities covered by the project will be connected to both the water supply and waste water systems. Moreover, both systems will function in accordance with relevant European quality standards.
A region on the EU’s eastern edge
Vaslui County has an area of 5 318 square kilometres and a population of around 400 000. The 953-kilometre-long Prut river at its eastern edge rises in Ukraine and forms the whole of the border between Romania and Moldova before flowing into the Danube. The Bârlad river, 207 kilometres in length, runs across the centre of the county. The area is largely agricultural, but industries include textiles and production of foodstuffs.
With some 55 000 inhabitants and lying in the centre of the county, the city of Vaslui is the county seat, while the municipality of Bârlad, which is situated on the Bârlad river around 50 kilometres south of Vaslui and near to the Vaslui-Galați county border, has a population of similar size. Huși is home to about 25 000 people and is located to the east of Vaslui, approximately 11 kilometres west of the Romanian-Moldovan border. Negrești is in the far north of the county, close to the border with Iași County and has a population of around 10 000.
Total investment and EU funding
Total investment for the project “Rehabilitation of water supply and wastewater systems and WWTPs in Vaslui, Barlad, Husi and Negresti agglomerations in Vaslui county, Phase II” is EUR 78 919 719, with the EU’s Cohesion Fund contributing EUR 51 189 029 through the “Large Infrastructure” Operational Programme for the 2014-2020 programming period.