Water reductions in Sarajevo continue to make everyday life difficult for citizens. “Vodovod” warns of problems at water sources and dilapidated infrastructure, the restoration of which requires large investments. What is the extent of the problem and what is needed for a more reliable supply?
In some households in Sarajevo, the daily schedule depends on when the water will flow. Cooking, washing and other duties are adjusted to reductions. Citizens say that frequent interruptions make it difficult for them to organize their daily lives.
The biggest reason for the reduction is the long-term lack of precipitation. The Federal Hydrometeorological Institute of BiH records a significant deficit of rain during August and September, and in September Sarajevo had the most pronounced drought index in the Federation of BiH. The consequences are already being felt on water resources.
Apart from the extremely dry period, as the main cause of frequent reductions, i.e. reduction of pressure from “Vodovod”, they cite the dilapidation of the infrastructure network, as well as problems with the source of Bačevo, BHRT writes.
“The levels in Bačevo are at critical points, and we should correct this situation by lowering the pressure so that the reservoirs are filled with water. Eighty percent of the network is more than 50-60 years old and it is very difficult to maintain such a network. In the dry period, we had 2,400 interventions on faults in four months.”, says Adnan Serak director of KJKP “Vodovod i kanalizacija” Sarajevo.
Precisely because of malfunctions, water losses in the network are huge – last month’s data from the Ministry of Municipal Economy of Sarajevo Canton.
“The losses currently amount to 71 percent. In order to improve the system, it is necessary to reconstruct about 700 kilometers of the water supply network and the same amount of sewage network,” said the Ministry of Municipal Economy of Sarajevo Canton.
Residents who adapt their day to reductions need clear deadlines: when the network will be restored and when they will have more reliable delivery. But due to the high costs and demanding nature of the work, no one can give a concrete answer to that question, they claim in “Vodovod”.
“It is very frivolous to estimate money now, but we can talk about hundreds of millions of KM. As for time, it is very difficult now, especially when it comes to the transport pipeline, which is the lifeblood, it would certainly take a lot of time. It is not realistic to give deadlines, but it certainly cannot be done in a year or two”, Serak adds.
While waiting for hundreds of millions of convertible marks and kilometers of new network, the citizens are left with a much simpler calculation – fill the containers before midnight and hope that the water will arrive by morning. In the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, reliable water supply still depends on rain for the time being.
