European tobacco growing region number one, producer of canned and fresh vegetables, main towns Prilep and Bitola, hot summers, freezing winters, strong migration into cities, this is the most important information found in an encyclopaedia on the wide and fertile plane on the border to Greece. The Macedonians themselves already tried to reduce the migration into cities in the Krivogastani region, a municipality with about 5,000 inhabitants located in the midst of agricultural crops. Their project "Krivogastani I", i.e. the drilling of two drinking water wells, was to provide the people with at least a minimal quality of life – more could only be achieved with foreign aid.
A fact finding mission in the framework of the Eastern Cooperation of the Austrian Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs (BmaA) set the ball rolling again and took the domestic consulter Posch & Partner to the "scene". Sufficient quantities of high quality water already being available, the infrastructure project "Krivogastani II" therefore comprised the construction of an elevated tank and a pipe network – also for the supply of smaller surrounding municipalities (according to the Austrian state-of-the-art). On the other hand, a sewer system was to be laid in view of the future construction of a sewage treatment plant.
The Austrian expert Karl Rohrhofer (GWCC), in charge of the management of project phase "Krivogastani III", finally found the following situation in the frame of his first visit on the premises:
- The water supply network was leaking (pipes "Made in Macedonia"), with the supply situation being additionally aggravated by the construction of the quasi "one way" supply lines to the surrounding communities.
- The new sewage system was laid in the earth without final treatment facility and thus remained unused, the household effluents reappeared in the ditches and formed slops in which the children played.
Instead of implementing the originally planned Phase III (construction of a second elevated tank and development of a water supply system for further surrounding communities only in a "one-way system") the GWCC boss suggested in consideration of a feasible further self-supply of the population from house wells (and – after the completion of the network – the expected levying of the first low fees) to urgently mobilise funds for a "minimum solution" in wastewater disposal. "We immediately thought of a small pressure pipe of approx. 2 km in length, which would conduct the effluents – according to our policy of tailored ‘lean technologies’ (see aqua press Int. 2/2002, from page 28 and 4/2002, p. 36; the editor) – to the nearest discharge system and there into an exclusively earth-constructed, naturally aerated sewage pond," says Karl Rohrhofer. In this context GWCC can rely on proven domestic models (e.g. Haus-Aich/Styria, see fig. 1). The only difference: the extremely dense Macedonian soil would even allow to dispense with foil or clay sealing (self-sealing due to the organic substances in wastewater). The earth fosses, approx. 2 metres in depth – in the final project phase three aligned ponds for each village within the municipality of Krivogastani – would function at first as a mechanical purification step within the concept of a "graduated development" (a screen is planned for the pumping station), and would be able to cope with approx. 50% of the organic load.
By the way, the excavation piled up to a ring wall does not only serve as blinds. Karl Rohrhofer expects for "his" sewage ponds a certain seepage of water through the pond walls, which in combination with the plants arranged at the outer wall (in the "moat") is rather similar to the effect of constructed wetlands (see fig. 2).
As results in Austria show, the settled sludge has to be removed from the sewage pond only after 12 – 14 years. The Macedonian sludge is well mineralised and poor in "civilisation waste" so that it can be used in agriculture without any problems.
This simple system also fascinates by its flexibility. Should the population of Krivogastani or its surrounding communities be able to afford the electricity cost for the operation of a compressor in the future, the sewage ponds could be switched to "artificial aeration" (increase of purification performance).
And should some time in the future a complete purification system with Western state-of-the-art technology be implemented, this ponds would be perfectly suitable for secondary purification or as industrial water tanks for agriculture. After all, the precious wet is scarce in the hot summers, both in the Pelagonia-Polje and in many other Balkan regions.
Learning by doing
While the Krivogastani project is principally based on the proven cooperation pattern of Eastern Cooperation – Ministry for Foreign Affairs (provider of financial aid), Kommunalkredit Austria AG (monitoring consultant), Coordination Office for Eastern Cooperation/ÖBTZ (local support), technological consultants, local partners/ministries, municipalities as customers – a very important aspect of development aid was focused on particularly at the beginning of Project Phase III: the guidance to self-help!
In doing so, the Austrians employ a model rejected by other donor countries so far, which was enthusiastically accepted by the Macedonian partners – i.e. the special leave for communal officers for the duration of the project. "We fully rely on the planning work by co-workers of the municipality of Krivogastani, who are subordinated for the duration of the planning phase to the communal director, and who were trained already during Project Phase II to use the CAD system provided by the Austrian tax payer," reports Karl Rohrhofer.
The municipal enterprise receives those funds that a "very well paid" Macedonian planner would have cost. The officers on leave are permanently supported from Austria through up-to-date communication technologies.
It goes without saying that the construction supervision remains with the Austrian consultant! Thus, the Macedonian planners have already projected the pipelines to the surrounding communities (Phase III)! In addition to the drilling of another well, the engineers at GWCC will turn to the wastewater system as described above. The necessary "go ahead" has recently been given by the Austrian Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Macedonian partners.
(Source: api 1/2003)
