WASTEWATER TREATMENT IN BULGARIA STATUS AND CHALANGES ORLIN DIKOV – INFRASTRUCTURE CONSULTANT

BULGARIA’S MAIN STEPS TOWARDS THE EU 1995 Submitted Application for EU membership 2000 Accession negotiations were opened 2004 European Council confirmed the conclusion of accession negotiations 2005 The Accession Treaty was signed in Luxembourg 2006 Monitoring report confirmed Bulgaria is prepared to political, economic and acquis criteria by January 1, January 2007 The Accession Treaty came into force

COMMITMENTS AS PER THE ACCESSION TREATY Agglomerations of more than 10,000 PE – Dec. 31, 2010 All agglomerations are provided with collecting systems for urban wastewater (Art. 3) Urban wastewater entering collecting systems shall before discharge be subject to secondary or an equivalent treatment for all discharges from agglomerations (Art. 4) Urban wastewater entering collecting systems shall before discharge into sensitive areas be subject to stringent than secondary or an equivalent treatment for all discharges from agglomerations (Art. 5)

COMMITMENTS AS PER THE ACCESSION TREATY - 2 Agglomerations a PE of between 2,000 and10,000 - December 31, 2014 All agglomerations are provided with collecting systems for urban wastewater (Art. 3) Urban wastewater entering collecting systems shall before discharge be subject to secondary or an equivalent treatment for all discharges from agglomerations (Art. 4)

COMMITMENTS AS PER THE ACCESSION TREATY - 3 Sensitive areas (Art. 5) Water body which is found to be eutrophic or which in the near future may become eutrophic if protective action is not taken Identification of Sensitive areas was carried out in 2003 About 90% of the water bodies are identified as sensitive areas, which requires stringent than secondary treatment of the wastewater discharged into these bodies

COMMITMENTS AS PER THE ACCESSION TREATY - 4 Reporting according to Art. 15, 16 and 17 Compliance with the UWWTD of the discharged treated wastewater and quantity of generated sludge - within 6 months upon request of the EC Public report - prepared every 2 years and contains information on the implementation of the Directive Program for implementation of the Directive requirements - prepared every 2 years

INSTITUTIONAL SETUP OF THE WSS SECTOR

COMPLIANCE WITH THE UWWT DIRECTIVE SERVICES COVERAGE (National Statistical Institute) % of Population connected to Wastewater Collecting Systems 2000 – 66.7% 2007 – 69.7% % % of Population connected to WWT Plants 2000 – 36.9%2007 – 42.3% % COMPLIANCE BY 2012 (Eight EC report of March 2016) Art. (3) – 12 %Art. (4) – 11%Art. (5) - 1%

COMPLIANCE WITH THE UWWT DIRECTIVE - 2 “The prospects of achieving the necessary progress, solely through infringement procedures, are not encouraging” – 7 th report of the EC on compliance 2012 – EC promoted “new approach” of reaching compliance through partnership implementation agreements By 2014 each MS should establish or revise the UWWTD implementation plan 2014 – GoB approved revised implementation plan with deadline for full compliance by December, 2023

MAIN CHALLENGES IN REACHING COMPLIANCE AND SUSTAINABILITY Planning, Design and Construction Phase High investment needs Difficult mobilization of the necessary funding Complex project preparation and implementation procedures Insufficient administrative and technical capacity to prepare and implement projects Delays in projects’ implementation

MAIN CHALLENGES IN REACHING COMPLIANCE AND SUSTAINABILITY Operational Phase Insufficient professional and technical staff to operate and maintain WWT facilities Inadequate tariffs to allow sustainability of the projects vis a vis the sector Lack of appropriate conditions for adequate sludge disposal in line with the requirements of the Sludge and Waste Directives

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SUSTAINABLE WASTEWATER TREATMENT Include performance improvement in the Projects objectives Involve WSS Operators at the earliest stage of the project preparation Design WWT facilities on the basis of measurements of Flows and Loads Make early planning/training of the necessary staff to operate and maintained the WWT facilities

EXAMPLE OF SUSTAINABLE WASTEWATER TREATMENT IN BULGARIA – SOFIA WWTP 1984 – Put into operation Treatment capacity – m3/day Activated Sludge Process 20 Coarse and Fine Rakes 3 Aerated Grit Removal Chambers 4 Primary Settlers with D=54 and depth=5m

EXAMPLE OF SUSTAINABLE WASTEWATER TREATMENT IN BULGARIA – SOFIA WWTP 6 Aeration Basins – 150m by 36m 6 Secondary Settlers Tertiary treatment introduced Anaerobic sludge treatment in methane tanks Co-generation unit for methane utilization Sludge applied on agricultural land – 20,000 tones ds/year By 2020 sludge incineration and utilization of Phosphorus