site.btaAdvanced Wastewater Treatment Plant Opens in Benkovski Village
Environment and Water Minister Manol Genov Thursday opened Bulgaria's first quaternary wastewater treatment plant, which removes drugs, hormones and microplastics, in the village of Benkovski near Plovdiv.
The opening ceremony was attended by Plovdiv Regional Governor Dr Hristina Yancheva, Maritsa Mayor Dimitar Ivanov, Plovdiv Water and Sewerage Company Manager Yulian Kovachev, and Trakia Economic Zone co-founder and CEO Plamen Panchev.
"This is a pilot project that makes it possible to remove micropollutants, such as hormones, antibiotics, fungicides, pesticides and microplastics. All this is hidden pollution, which gets into the soil through water and may create various problems in the future," Genov said, adding that the water treated by the plant in Benkovski can be used for irrigation in agriculture, without polluting the food chain.
Genov said this is a top achievement of institutions, science and business, which sets a good example for innovative projects across the country. Bulgaria does not have a laboratory that can measure the purity of quaternary treated water, which is why the Executive Agency for the Environment is preparing for accreditation such a laboratory in Pleven.
The Benkovski wastewater treatment plant has a capacity of 2,000 population equivalent. The treated water is discharged into an irrigation canal to be used in agriculture. It is the first real pilot project in Bulgaria for quaternary wastewater treatment in a small settlement. The treatment plant was built through public-private partnership between the local government and the state, science and business, with the participation of Maritsa Municipality and Trakia Economic Zone.
The technology was developed by the Centre for Cleantech and Biomass Resource Efficiency at the Agricultural University of Plovdiv, in close cooperation with Plovdiv's Water and Sewerage Company.
/DD/
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