Current Status of Supply of Drinking Water

In addition to the already mentioned insufficient water infrastructure in the Tatra districts, similar problems, multiplied by capacity problems of the existing water resources, exist in the districts Gelnica and Stara Lubovna. Moreover, the same applies also for the region of Spis, the valley of the river Hnilec, and Zamagurie, with insufficient development of water mains also due to insufficient suitable resources of drinking water.

In the western part of the territory in question (district Liptovsky Mikulas) are more favourable natural conditions for occurrence of intense springs, but due to the problems with bad quality of the water resources in the neighbouring district Ruzomberok, water from Liptovsky Mikulas must be supplied also to that deficit district.

Brief Characteristics of Possible Acquisition of Water Resources

From the geomorphologic aspect, the territory in question is characterised by a wide scale of almost all morphologic structures, beginning with the high-mountainous level represented by a part of the Low Tatras, the High and Belanske Tatras (2,655 m a.s.l.), then mid-mountainous levels, and southward and south-eastward through the valley Popradska kotlina, the Levoca Hills, up to the valley of the river Hornad. From the aspect of occurrence of ground and surface waters, this region has no evenly located exploitable water resources. Ground waters occur rather in the western part of the territory in question, in the eastern region are more resources with good quantity but more risky – direct consumptions are taken from surface rivers.

The detail inventory and evaluation of the so-far used and usable resources shows that in order to meet the requirements of water supply, it will be necessary to ensure for the territory in question, another water resource or resources with capacity of approx. 500 l/s. In the given natural conditions with occurrence of water resources, there exists no possibility to find any important ground water resource with good capacity, and this condition may be satisfied only by a large resource of drinking water from surface waters. Such resource is the future Garajky water reservoir (hereinafter referred as the “WR”) in the river Ipoltica, with usable capacity amounting to 600 l/s, re-valuated in 2004 also from the aspect of optimum economic indicators, to the exploitable capacity of even 794 l/s.

Objectives of the Future Development of Supply of Drinking Water

The analysis of the current status of supply of drinking water, and the possibility to exploit the reserves of the ground and surface water resources results in the following principles for further development of water mains :

• to increase the number of the supplied population in villages, where water mains are already built, but the supply is weak (by extending the water main networks, building accumulations and other objects);
• to ensure sufficient volume of good quality water from good resources for the regions with risky resources, with bad quality and enadangered by contamination;
• to build supplies of water to the regions of the Low Spis (Spisska Nova Ves – Margecany – Gelnica), as well as to the region of Podmagurie (Spisska Bela – Podolinec) and to ensure realisation of infrastructure for supply of water to the population in individual consumption sites;
• to ensure for the Tatra region a new future resource of drinking water (the Garajky water reservoir), due to increase of the supplied population, but mainly as replacement for the unsuitable, currently not used water resources. The summary review of future objectives in supply to the population from public water mains, determined in the basic indicators, is shown in the following table (see download).

Summary of Need and Resources of Drinking Water

The results of the summary of need and resources of water characterize the development of covering the need of water by capacities of resources, and document excess resources, if any, or deficits in respect of time sections in the individual water mains – units. The structure of summary contains the currently exploited and exploitable capacities of water resources, less the ecologic limits, and excluding the capacities of unsuitable resources, proposed for writing-off or vice versa, the summary includes new, sufficiently verified, perspective water resources, upon adjustment of their capacities according to ecologic limits.

The outputs of the summary of needs and resources of water within the territorial reach of the Garajky WR show that:

• the current capacities of the exploited water resources will cover the needs until approx. 2011–2012, the deficit as of the year 2015 will rise to approx...................................... 46 l/s
• the capacities of water resources shall be reduced upon accounting for the ecologic limits and deficit will occur even prior to the year 2010, and as of the year 2015, it shall rise to.......................................... 128 l/s
• upon reduction of the capacities due to writing-off the unsuitable (in spite of exploiting the perspective new resources), deficits will occur already from now and as of the year 2015, they shall rise to approx. ............................ 468 l/s
• the capacities of resources will be reduced due to climatic effects by 10%, total........................................ 91 l/s
• the total maximum requirements on water from the new water resource – Garajky WR are ........ 559 l/s

The above very brief outputs of solution of the possibility to supply drinking water in the region in question show the necessity to build a new water resource with sufficient capacity. For such purpose, according to the required conditions, the most appropriate solution seems to be construction of the water reservoir Garajky WR on the river Ipoltica.

Information and Contact:

Ing. Tibor Elek
EKOPROAQUA
Tel.: 0421 2 43422512
elek.t@stonline.sk