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Municipal utility sector
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3.2.7 Municipal utility sector
Centralised water supply systems are available in virtually all urban areas located in the Dnipro Basin (e.g. in Belarus, 95% of all municipalities are covered by such systems). However, they are poorly developed in the majority of the rural areas, particularly within the Ukrainian part of the Basin.
In Ukraine, a centralised water supply service is available in 100% of cities/towns, 89% of townships, and about 20% of rural settlements. Centralised sewerage services are available in 94% of cities/towns, 50% of townships, and about 3% of rural settlements. About 62% of the population are connected to a centralised sewerage service, mainly in the urban areas. The highest level of coverage is provided in the Zaporizhzhia (81.4%), Dnipropetrovsk (74.5%), Sumy (62%) and Kherson Oblasts, as opposed to the Volyn and Rivne Oblasts where coverage is low (less than 27%). According to expert estimates, this coverage is extremely low when compared to Western Europe.
In general, major water supply/sewerage systems are in poor repair and have reached a high level of depreciation. The total length of sewage mains within Ukraine is 33,840.9 km, with about 10% of the pipework reaching the highest level of depreciation. In addition, about 2,160 km is in extremely poor repair and requires urgent replacement. The poor state of municipal utilities in the Dnipro Basin is illustrated by the fact that wastewater discharges from municipal wastewater treatment plants have been recognised as a major (immediate) source of pollution.
The municipal utility sector accounts for a significant proportion of the total volume of effluents received by the Dnipro Basin water bodies. Therefore the state of wastewater treatment plants and related operation/maintenance costs are considered to have a significant effect on the actual treatment level and quality of municipal effluents entering the water bodies of the Dnipro Basin. For example, in Ukraine, the actual capital expenditure in the water utility sector is currently only 15–20% of the required amount. As a result, municipal wastewater discharges accounted for 40%, or over 0.5 billion m3, of the total amount of insufficiently treated or untreated wastewaters received by the Basin water bodies in 2001 (over 1.3 billion m3).
Brief information on the municipal water supply/wastewater treatment sector of the Russian Federation is presented below:
- Centralised water supply/sewerage services are available in all urban areas of the Russian part of the Dnipro Basin.
- Water consumption for drinking/domestic purpose is reported to represent 20% in the total water consumption pattern in the Kursk Oblast, 29%
in the Belgorod Oblast, and 63% in the Bryansk Oblast.
- Daily per capita water consumption is between 197 l/day (226 l/day including industrial consumption).
In the Republic of Belarus, mixed municipal/industrial effluents are treated at centralised wastewater treatment plants. The total available wastewater treatment capacity of 1,168.4 ´ 106 m3 per year is higher than the actual volume of treated wastewater (835.4 ´ 106 m3 in 2000). In many cases collected effluents contain contaminants at concentrations that exceed mandatory limits. Of the total wastewater volume, 90% is treated by municipal wastewater treatment plants in 37 large cities. Local wastewater treatment facilities are currently available in only 140 of 205 smaller townships.
Over 90% of the urban population of the Ukrainian part of the Dnipro Basin is connected to centralised water supply/sewerage services, whereas these services are available to only 24% of the rural population. The major water supply/sewerage systems have generally reached a high level of depreciation and the coverage of the centralised sewerage service is extremely low when compared to Western European countries.
