Document Actions
Sources of Information and Data Quality Control
Up one level
8.1. Sources of Information and Data Quality Control
The main sources of information included the technical documentation of the above-mentioned polluting enterprises, as well as information submitted by the management and chief specialists of the enterprises. Some data were obtained from the Statistical Nature Use Yearbooks for 2000 – 2002 and Water Cadastre of the Republic of Belarus. The impacts of the polluters were quantified by the official statistical reports “4OS-water”.
Prioritization of Hot Spots by the impacts on the environment of the Dnipro River basin (by economic indicators) was based on the following data:
- Characteristics of current effluent discharges (parameters concentrations in mg/l) – (Table E-1, Annex E);
- Characteristics of water use by 15 Hot Spots in 2000 - (Table E-2, Annex E).
The activities conducted included analysis of the volumes of water intake and use as well as the volumes of effluent discharge to surface water of the Dnipro River basin for each enterprise-pollutant. The experts also determined the shares of the Hot Spots in water use of the Dnipro River basin and Republic of Belarus as a whole. With respect to the Dnipro River basin, the volumes of fresh water intake made up 1,116,000 m³; with 605,942 m³, or 54.3% accounted for by the 15 identified Hot Spots. Use of fresh water is 1,048,000 m³ and 538,665 m³ (51.4%) for the Dnipro River basin and the 15 identified Hot Spots, accordingly. With respect to the total volume of water use of the Republic of Belarus these indices make up 32.2% and 31.7%.
As a whole, over the Dnipro River basin, total water consumption, including water reuse, recycling-sequential consumption makes up 3,955,000 thousand m³, with 890,485 m³ being the share of the Hot Spots. Accordingly, the Hot Spots make up 22.5% of the total water consumption for the Dnipro River basin, which accounts for only 10.5% of the total water use in the territory of the Republic of Belarus.
The low ratio of these indices is explained by the fact that the given evaluation mostly encompasses the results of the activities of vodokanals, and according to the technology, they apply recycling-sequential systems which are basically not provided for.
As for effluent discharge, in total volume of discharges to the Dnipro River basin, the 15 Hot Spots made up 73.8% or 51.5% of the total volume all over the country.
Characteristics of the volumes of discharge and the efficiency of treatment are provided in Annex 3.
The values of the coefficients of relative danger (aggressiveness) of major pollutants with respect to effluent are provided in Annex 4.
The characteristics of the vodokanals with respect to social and economic factors are summarized in Annex 5.
A comparison of the actual discharges of pollutants with the normative (maximum permissible discharge) and targeted discharges (EU standards) is provided in Annex 6.
Note. In Belarus, the main indicator used for the control of water quality is the maximum permissible discharge (MPD). In many cases in accordance with objective reasons (technological imperfection), enterprises cannot achieve the maximum allowable concentration (MAC). To improve this situation and guarantee the quality of water for consumption and use, the maximum permissible discharge of pollutants (MPD) is fixed for every enterprise. According to GOST (i.e., state standards and guidelines), the maximum permissible discharge of pollutant is the mass of this pollutant present in the effluent, which is maximum permissible for the discharge at the given point of the water body per unit time for the purpose of ensuring the standards of water quality at the selected checkpoint. The maximum permissible discharge is determined taking into account the maximum allowable concentration in the places of water use, the assimilating ability of the water body and the optimal distribution of the mass of the substances discharged. In the event that the enterprise cannot achieve the maximum permissible discharge, the relevant body of the public inspection establishes a temporary agreed discharge of pollutants (TAD) for the enterprise for a short-time period. As long as all Hot Spots sources of pollution are kept within the normatives of the maximum permissible discharge, temporary agreed discharge of pollutants was not developed for them.
An analysis of the established maximum permissible discharge and the actual discharge of pollutants from the Hot Spot shows that for the majority of parameters, the actual discharges are below established normatives of maximum permissible discharge. Moreover, the actual level of pollutants discharged meets the normatives of the EU for the major indices and are even lower in certain cases.
The characteristics of the vodokanals, industrial enterprises according to technological and financial factors are provided in Annex E-7.
The planned capital investments in water-protective measures for the 15 Hot Spots are outlined in Annex E-8.
A matrix assessment of Hot Spot according to the economic parameters (see Methodology, Chapter 3) is provided in Annex E-9.
A summary table, including the scores of the Hot Spots by the economic parameters, is presented in Annex E-10.
The discharge of pollutants to the Dnipro water bodies by 15 Hot Spots in 2000 is summarized in Annex 11.
The reduced mass of pollutants discharge by 15 Hot Spots in 2000 is shown in Annex 12.
Note. By this index, Minsk vodokanal is the lead (its share in the total for 15 Hot Spots is 43.5%), followed by Retchitsa vodokanal (14%), Borisov vodokanal (7.7%) and Mogilev Gorvodokanal (7.0%). Gomel vodokanal, Bobruisk vodokanal and Berezovsk vodokanal are farther away – 5.9%, 52% and 4.1%, respectively.
The economic impact of pollution in the Dnipro basin by 15 Hot Spots in 2000 is provided in Annex 13;
A comparative analysis of the economic damage which resulted from pollution of the Dnipro River basin by the 15 Hot Spots and the current costs of water resource protection and the gross domestic product of the Republic of Belarus for 2000 is provided in Annex 14.
