The regional water supply for Bar separates the largest amount of water when it comes to the coast, but this is still not enough for the needs of the city under Rumija during the tourist and post season. There is slightly less water for the coast than in previous years due to the illegal exploitation of gravel from Morača, which disturbed the spring of Bolje Sestre, which supplies the Regional Waterworks.
At the beginning of Sunday, the Bar company Vodovod and Sewerage announced disruptions in the water supply of some settlements because, as they said, the Regional Waterworks reduced the amount of water it supplies them. As they said, the inner city center of Bar, Žukotrlica, Donji Šušanj, Ilino, Bjeliši, Ahmetov Brijeg and Polje will have problems with water.
"Water supply and sewerage" At least based on the signed contract with the Regional Water Supply, they commit themselves to the minimum monthly quantities that they are obliged to take over. For July, the contracted quantities were 75 liters per second, and for August 95, while for September, the contracted minimum flow was 40 liters per second. This reduction at a time when Baru continues to record increased consumption due to the tourist season, as well as high temperatures, had negative consequences because these quantities were not sufficient to meet the needs of all users".
That's what the local company told "Vijesta" and added that due to the unfavorable hydrological conditions and the significantly reduced yield of the local water sources in Bar, in the previous period they continuously provided additional amounts of water that were needed for the normal functioning of the system.
"Therefore, we took as much as 170 liters per second in order to provide a regular supply of water, and we regularly settled our obligations to this company," they said.
The problem arose, according to them, at the moment when the Regional Water Supply reduced those volumes by 50 liters per second, which was not at their request, but in order to redirect those volumes to other municipalities.
"This reduction at a time when in Bar we continue to record increased consumption due to the tourist season, as well as high temperatures, had negative consequences because these quantities were not sufficient to meet the needs of our users", they pointed out.
When asked how many liters per second are needed for the uninterrupted water supply of all settlements in Bar, they answered that they cannot speak about a precise figure, because several factors affect it, i.e. the generosity of local springs, which was significantly lower this season due to the drought, the increase in the number of users with the arrival tourists, and thus increased water consumption, and often irrational use of drinking water.
"So everything depends on the current situation and the combination of all factors. The technical sector and expert services of our Company continuously monitor the situation and, based on that, take all measures to ensure proper water supply. For the sake of comparison, during the previous years, measurements in August, when the demand for water is the highest, showed that in 2023, the maximum entering the system was 557 l/s, in 2022, 510 l/s, and in 2021, 530 l/s." they said from the Bar Waterworks.
Disruptions in water supply also occur due to the unplanned expansion of the city in areas where there is no detailed urban plan and the construction of buildings without a building permit, which are registered in their company as temporary users, for the purposes of consumer records and billing of water used. In such cases, Barski vodovodov does not guarantee water supply pressure and reserves the right to disconnect users from the network if they burden the stability of the water supply system.
"Nevertheless, we can state that for many years the water supply in the area of the municipality of Bar has been at a satisfactory level, especially in the off-season. Better hydrological conditions in the autumn months also contribute to this, which also affect the greater abundance of local water sources, as well as constant investments in the water supply network and the efforts that our Company invests in further building and improving an efficient and sustainable water supply system for the benefit of all citizens of the Municipality of Bar. they concluded.
The Regional Water Supply did not respond to the questions of "Vijesti", but at the beginning of Sunday they announced that due to the drop in the yield of local springs there was a significant increase in the need for water from the Regional Water Supply, they assessed and added that at the moment the Regional Water Supply supplies the amount of water that is 1,9 times higher than the contract.
The local water supply company Bar contracted 40 liters per second for the month of September, while according to data from the second of September, 128 liters per second are delivered to this municipality, which is 3,2 times more than the contracted quantity.
A big problem, they pointed out from the Regional Waterworks, is the illegal exploitation of gravel and sand in the bed of the Morača River, in the Second Sanitary Protection Zone of the source of Bolje Sestre, which supplies the Regional Waterworks System, which has led to its devastation, i.e. to a drastic drop in the yield of the river itself. sources.
"The yield of the source of Bolje sestre dropped from 2.600 liters per second, as measured in 2010, to 265 liters per second, as measured in 2021 and 2022. Despite numerous continuous appeals and warnings, the Regional Waterworks could not influence such a situation", they said.
The regional waterworks has contracted with all local waterworks on the Montenegrin coast the necessary quantities of water for each month individually and guarantees orderly distribution.
"The municipality of Bar receives the largest amount of water over the contracted amount compared to all the municipalities on the Montenegrin coast", they concluded.
Due to the need to deliver the contracted amount of water with the municipality of Herceg Novi, of 50 liters per second, for the month of September, there was a minimal reduction in the delivery of water to other municipalities on the Montenegrin coast.
"The regional water supply is making and will make maximum efforts to properly distribute the available amounts of water to all municipalities on the Montenegrin coast. In this sense, we expect maximum understanding from the local water supply company in Bar, because our common interest is that all municipalities on the Montenegrin coast are provided with the necessary amount of water", the state company concluded.
Without water for several days
The citizens of Bar, and especially the residents of Šušanj, addressed the newsroom about problems with water and claimed that they have no water for several days and that the pressure is low when they do have it. After "Vijesti" wrote about it, the residents of Šušanje said that their water was turned on completely for a few days, after which everything returned to normal.
"Now we only have water overnight, and last Sunday we had no water for three consecutive days. We're going to fill water bottles at the Waterworks in Topolica, we'll manage. The situation is bad and we persistently go to complain. When we tell the correct address, we get water for an hour or two and then the same thing," said the resident of Jadranska Street.
Barani appeal to the local and regional waterworks to solve the problems with the water supply as soon as possible in order to have the basic conditions for life, especially hygiene. They hope that by the next tourist season they will find a way to do it that is not a burden on the citizens, thinking of buying tankers. However, as they told the list, they do not have high expectations because every season is getting worse and worse for the local population.
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