Regional water supply: In preparation for the summer season

Activities on the preparation of the regional water supply system (RVS) for sustainable operation during the summer tourist season of 2022 are taking place according to the planned dynamics, and the operational readiness of the RVS is continuously at a very good level in relation to the quantities of water delivered.

The biggest challenge will be, due to the recorded decrease in the yield of the source of Bolje Sestre, to meet all the requests of the municipal waterworks for the delivery of additional quantities of water beyond the contracted, especially during the month of August, when water consumption is the highest, said the executive director of the Regional Waterworks of the Montenegrin Coast, Josip Đurašković .

In addition to continuous activities on ongoing, regular maintenance of the RVS, which achieves and maintains a high degree of operational readiness of the system, ensures the planned life of the equipment, as well as the functioning of the equipment within the designed parameters, during the first half of the year, the expert services of the Regional Waterworks conduct a series of additional activities on preparation system for maximum operation during the summer months.

The work of initial defect inspection was carried out, the tender procedures for the maintenance of electrical equipment, mechanical equipment and construction facilities and the procurement of spare parts, as well as for the elimination of defects for which it is necessary to engage external collaborators, were carried out in a timely manner, while work on the organization of repair work, quality control and monitoring of the performed works, as well as minor repair works, are carried out by the expert services of the Regional Water Supply.

In the period leading up to the summer season, the acquisition and installation of measuring equipment (flow meters, pressure transmitters, level meters, etc.) is planned, which will increase the level of measurement accuracy, but also implement the legal obligation to replace and/or calibrate the flow meters used to measure the amount of water delivered to consumers every five years.

As there are no significant water losses in the system, in order to raise the operational readiness of the pumping stations to the maximum level, it is necessary to eliminate a couple of recorded failures, which is ongoing, which will achieve 100 percent operational readiness before the start of the summer tourist season, Đurašković added.

However, in spite of our maximum commitment to ensure continuous water supply of the Primorje during the upcoming summer season, we are facing a significant challenge in the form of a reduced yield of the Bolje Sestre water source, which was significantly contributed to by long-term illegal activities on the excavation of gravel and sand in the Morača river bed. as well as within the second zone of sanitary protection of water sources.

Even after numerous appeals that we made, and numerous criminal reports that we filed, these activities were not completely stopped, which represents an additional challenge for the water supply of the Montenegrin coast. This situation calls into question the ability of the Regional Waterworks to meet all the requests of local water companies for the delivery of additional quantities of water, which range up to twice the contracted quantities, especially during the month of August, when the salinity of local springs occurs.

While it is certain that all contracted volumes will be able to be delivered, even those whose contracting is in progress with the Municipality of Herceg Novi and ViK Herceg Novi, there is a real possibility that due to the recorded decrease in the yield of the Bolje Sestre spring, it will not be possible to meet all requests for an additional amount of water , said Đurašković.

Within the scope of its competences, the Regional Waterworks will initiate several activities that could result in partial mitigation of the effects of the drop in yield of the source, and which are also necessary as research and test activities for the needs of a sustainable solution to the challenge in question, which includes the implementation of test activities on capturing additional the amount of water in the immediate vicinity of the source from deeper layers of underground water, the construction of a temporary embankment in the bed of the Morača river, and the examination of the possibility of filtering smaller amounts of lake water from the immediate vicinity of the water intake (which was determined to be of a very similar quality to the water from the source).

In the case of a positive result, these test activities can potentially provide additional volumes of water for abstraction during the critical summer months. Activities to capture additional quantities of water in the immediate vicinity of the source from deeper layers of underground water will be financed through the IPA INTERREG IT-AL-MNE program, and within the activities to establish monitoring stations in the II sanitary protection zone of the source, while the procedure for determining the remaining activities has been initiated legal assumptions for implementation, after which an assessment of the cost price and time frames in which they can be implemented will be undertaken.

Certainly, it is not possible to expect possible solutions that would be reached through these researches and their implementation until the summer tourist season of 2022.

Until a sustainable and permanent solution is found for capturing additional quantities of water, the Regional Waterworks will, as in previous years, conduct daily control of the available quantities of water, plan the operation of the pumping units in such a way as to capture the maximum available quantities of water from the water intake and pay special attention to the detection of losses. even though they are at a low level, in order to provide the maximum available amount of water and prevent a stoppage in the orderly water supply of the Montenegrin coast, Đurašković concluded.