A plant for wastewater treatment which is one of the biggest projects in BiH was put into operation today in Živinice.
Along with the plant, the utility company “Živinice” obtained a modern laboratory which will conduct water testing.
Živinice municipal mayor Hasan Muratović told FENA that the plant which was officially put into operation today is the largest and most modern plant for wastewater treatment in BiH and this also means that the country has complied with international agreements signed in relation to the protection of the Sava and Danube Rivers and Black Sea Basin.
He reminded that this is a complex project which was successfully implemented after the funding was secured in the amount of 16 million BAM, and the project was implemented in three phases. The entire project was done without new loans.
The first phase included constructing 22 kilometers of new sewage collectors and revitalization of the old ones so that it was made possible to bring into one location more than 2,000 drainages in the Spreča River. For this phase, the European Commission secured three million Euros.
In the second phase a facility for mechanical wastewater treatment was built which cost five million BAM and the biggest donor was the World Bank, while the third phase involved biological treatment and the biggest donor for this phase was the Swedish Agency for International Development and Cooperation (Sida), which secured 1.7 million Euros, together with the FBiH Environmental Fund, which secured one million of BAM.
“This project will allow for Lake Modrac to become a true resource of drinking water for the Tuzla Canton, primarily for the municipalities of Tuzla, Živinice and Lukavac, because as of today there will be no more bacteriological pollution of the lake,” Muratović said, noting that the Živinice sewage was an enormous bacteriological threat for the lake.
The mayor stressed that this plant will treat the sewage to the level of potability to cover the needs of 45,000 people, and a large number of people downstream Spreča River will have a direct benefit.
Sida Director Marie Bergstrom said that this project was supported by the governments of Sweden, and most important of all is that the project provides the purification of water for the population of this area.
“The Government of the Kingdom of Sweden puts great importance on execution of projects relating to the environment and clean water,” Bergstrom underlined, and stressed that there is possibility of financing similar projects throughout BiH.
(Source: Fena/ photo rtv7.ba)
