Water Supply and Wastewater Treatment in Medium-Sized Municipalities in Serbia – Program III/IV (wastewater)

• Wastewater is discharged untreated or insufficiently treated.
• Sewage collection systems are sometimes inadequate, non-functional and require adjustments to centralized wastewater treatment.
• Wastewater treatment plants have not been developed in line with the quality of treatment required by EU directives or are nonexistent.
• Disposed fecal and sewage sludge is not sufficiently treated.
• The tariffs do not cover the costs and do not allow Public Utility Companies (PUC) to maintain, modernize or extend their infrastructure.

The aim is to ensure reliable and safe sanitation and treatment in accordance with EU standards at cost-covering and socially acceptable tariffs and to improve profitability and management capacities of PUCs.

The programme is carried out in two phases:

• During the first phase the technical and design documents are prepared, and the municipalities and their PUCs have to meet certain efficiency and performance criteria in order to qualify for the second phase (performance-oriented approach).
• The second phase involves investments in wastewater collection and treatment, in particular in the construction of wastewater treatment plants and rehabilitation and extension of the sewerage network.

• The programme encompassed the wastewater collection and treatment infrastructure in the Municipalities of Kruševac and Vranje.
• PUCs have introduced cost-covering prices, including a minimum budget per house connection for maintenance.
• PUCs have increased their fee collection efficiency to over 90% and improved their overall business results through the support of programme Technical Assistance Consultancy.
• Contribution to EU accession and implementation of EU standards in the wastewater sector.

Achievements Kruševac:

• Municipal wastewater treatment improvement
  • 90,000 Population Equivalent (P.E.) Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) with solar sludge drying constructed.
• Energy savings and climate change co-benefits ensured
  • The sludge line with solar sludge drying and the biogas line implemented at the WWTP led to direct energy savings of 47% (kWh/year) through use of biogas, 1 GWh energy savings through solar sludge drying and 20 t/year CO2 emissions savings.
• Improved municipal wastewater collection and disposal
  • 60.3 km of sewerage network rehabilitated and/or newly constructed.
  • 11 new sewerage pumping stations constructed + 1 rehabilitated.
• Flood protection for infrastructure
  • 1.5 km of the Garski potok (creek) in regulated with flood protection measures.
• New machinery procured
  • 1 sewerage canal jet truck, 1 combined working machine, 1 tractor, 1 van for staff transport, 1 delivery vehicle – pickup, 2 trailers for operation and transport, 1 Bobcat mini-dredger.

Achievements Vranje

• Municipal wastewater treatment improvement
  • 70,000 PE wastewater treatment plant constructed
• Improved municipal wastewater collection and disposal
  • 22 km of sewerage network rehabilitated and/or newly constructed.
  • 7 new sewerage pumping stations
• New machinery procured:
  • 1 sewerage canal jet truck, 1 telehandler, 2 trailers for operation and transport, 1 off-road vehicle.