site.btaStarosel Hosts Bulgarian Water Association's Annual Conference

The annual BULAQUA conference of the Bulgarian Water Association (BWA) was opened on Thursday in the village of Starosel (Central Bulgaria). The conference was attended by representatives of European institutions, non-governmental organizations and international experts.

BWA Chair Ivan Ivanov said that investing in the sector is a priority task for ensuring good service and quality of drinking water, adding that efforts should be directed at preventively solving possible problems, and not after their occurrence. He pointed out that investment problems affect not only Bulgaria, but also other European countries.

In a video address to the conference, Sofia Alves, Director of the Regional and Urban Policy Directorate of the European Commission (EC), said that the EC remains a committed partner of Bulgaria in ensuring access to safe drinking water and effective collection and treatment of wastewater. She emphasized that European funds are modernizing the water supply and wastewater infrastructure throughout the country. As a result, clean drinking water has been provided to 2.6 million people in Bulgaria through the reconstruction and rehabilitation of water supply networks and 71 wastewater treatment plants have been opened throughout the country.

Water Europe Executive Director Durk Krol highlighted the importance of investments in the water sector and cited research, according to which for every EUR 1 invested in the sector, the economic return is EUR 2.35. He indicated that investments will increase by 30% by 2030, as water scarcity affects 29% of Europe's territory currently and 38% of the population.