Water Mains

Currently, public water mains are in 2,080 towns and villages of the Slovak Republic, representing 70.5% of all towns and villages. The percentage of the population supplied by drinking water from public water mains has increased during the last 15 years by 20 percentage points, and currently it represents 84 % of the total population of the Slovak Republic. The total population supplied by drinking water from public water mains increased in 2002, in respect of the preceding year, by 20,200, i.e. to 4,518,200. The increment of the supplied population in 2002 represented only 0.5 percentage point.

The level of development of public water mains is uneven in individual regions. The highest percentage of the supplied population is in the Bratislava county – 95.2%. The percentage in the Trencin county is also above the national average – 88.2 % and in the Zilina county – 85.7 %. The counties behind the national average are Kosice – 77.8 % and Presov – 75.1 %. More differentiated conditions in supply of drinking water are in individual districts, where the percentage of the supplied population is between approx. 50% (Vranov nad Toplou, Sabinov, Bytca, Košice-vicinity) and the saturation limit (Bratislava, Prievidza, Martin, Banska Bystrica, Partizanske, etc.). In spite of increasing the number of population supplied with drinking water from public water mains, the Slovak Republic is still behind most of the EU countries.

One of the essential factors which enables development of public water mains are sufficient sources of good quality water. The sources used in water management must have sufficient capacity, must be exploitable for a long time in the future, and last but not least, must meet the requirements for quality and hygiene of water and protection thereof. For this purpose, groundwater resources are primarily used.

Insufficient groundwater resources in passive regions, including the south of central Slovakia and most of eastern Slovakia, is resolved by building trunk pipelines and transition to large capacity sources of surface water (water reservoirs). In 2004, 8 water mains were operated with the total volume of 163 mio m3. Gradual integration of water main systems, built especially on the basis of large capacity sources of groundwater and surface water, has resulted in the concept of large water management systems with supra-regional function.

The sources of groundwater in the Grain Island are operated by the West Slovakian Water Main System with the basic components of the group water main Jelka – Galanta – Nitra and the group water main Gabcikovo with branches to Nove Zamky, Levice – Sturovo and Zeliezovce. The connections to Vrable, Zlate Moravce, and Nitra are under construction. These systems are connected with the Nitra group water main leading groundwater to Nitra from the karst region of the hills Strazovske vrchy.

A separate unit is the Bratislava Water Main System supplying the Capital of the Slovak Republic from the groundwater resources located on the territory thereof or in the near vicinity. It will be extended to the whole territory of the Bratislava county.

The largest area is covered by the Central Slovakian Water Main System integrating group water mains in the southern part of central Slovakia. It consists of the Hron group water main using the groundwater resources near Banska Bystrica and the group water mains on the basis of the Hrinova, Klenovec, Malinec, and Turcek water resources.

The acute lack of drinking water in eastern Slovakia in the eighties resulted in establishment of the East Slovakian Water Main System. Its main resource is the Starina water reservoir, and the Bukovec water reservoirs and several groundwater resources are especially used for supplying Kosice. Increasing lack of resources of drinking water in the region of the East Slovakian Lowland, relating also so devastation of the local groundwater resources, requires re-routing of the most part of the supplied water from Starina to this direction.

In the future, it is expected to complete the construction of other two supra-regional water main systems – North Slovakian, based mainly on the existing Nova Bystrica water reservoir, and the Tatra system which should supply drinking water from the groundwaters near the Poprad valley, and the prepared reservoir in the upper Liptov region – the Garajky water reservoir. It is also planned to connect the West Slovakian and the Central Slovakian Water Systems, which shall support the supply to the deficit districts on the border of the counties.

The overall decrease in consumption of water in the nineties was reflected also in the public water mains. The volume of water invoiced to the customers decreased for the period 1990 – 2001 by more than one third. It is assumed that this trend is temporary, and that in the next following decades the need of drinking water by the population and industry will rise again.

Sewage System

Out of 2,891 towns and villages in Slovakia, 503 towns and villages has built public sewage systems. It represents 17.4 %. In 2002, the number of the population living in houses connected to the public sewage increased only by 8,999, i.e. to 2,976,400 population. More negative situation is in the individual counties and districts. The Trnava county (45.5%), Nitra county (43.6%), and Zilina county (51.8%) are behind the national average. In the districts of Zlate Moravce, Komarno, Namestovo, Cadca, Košice-vicinity, and Trebisov, the situation is alarming, as the population living in houses connected to the public sewage is below 30%. Sewage networks are built first of all in large towns and most of the countryside is beyond the reach thereof. The development of sewage has for a long time been much slower than that of water mains. It means that the population taking water from public water mains without having the possibility to discharge the waste water into public sewage system constantly rises. Currently, it represents almost one third of the total population of the Slovak Republic. This results (especially in the countryside, in lowland regions) in big problems of enviromental and hygienic character.

Information and Contact:

Association of Employees in Water Management of the Slovak Republic
Nabr. arm. gen. L. Svobodu 5, Bratislava
www.vuvh.sk
simkova@vuvh.sk

In: Water in the Slovak Republic, p. 19 – 22.