After Pleven, a drastic water regime reached Lovech as well. Starting tomorrow, the fountains will remain dry for a large part of the day, bTV reported.
According to the authorities, the cause is the drought, but they admit that even the little available water is wasted on the outdated network. Lovech is a city of 30,000. From tomorrow, apart from at night, there will be no water during the day as well, making the regime 13 hours a day.
In one of the blocks in the center of Lovech, people are taking measures to cope with the new water regime.
„I have now prepared four tubes of ten liters each, so that we can have them during the day for the bathroom for the toilet. Unfortunately, we are back in the 19th century and I don't know how these rulers think about it, says Violeta Dalekova, who lives in the 11-story block.
The largest kindergarten has also prepared, but the lack of running water worries them.
„Living in the 21st century, I think it is unacceptable to have this problem. It's one thing when the dishes are washed with hot water, it's another - when they are washed with cold water from cans, says the director of the "June 1st" kindergarten. Petya Stancheva.
The lack of rainfall in recent months is cited as the main reason by VV-Lovech. And they emphasize that the main losses are on the network inside the city.
According to the manager of the Lovech Waterworks, the losses on the external water supply are up to 5-6 percent.
Over 50 percent of the water is wasted on the amortized network in Lovech. Projects are being worked on there, but according to local authorities, the most reliable option is the “Black Eight“ dam, whose construction was frozen decades ago due to suspicions of harming nature and wild animals.
„Then one of the main theses was the bear population. Now there are bears, one had reached near Lovech, in the village of Tepava, which is 15 km away, but there is no water, said the mayor of Lovech, Stracimir Petkov.
The good news is that the hunting hospital is on a separate water supply and there is no regime there, but strict austerity has been ordered.
In the country, four of the dams for drinking water are only half full - “Ticha“, “Kamchiya“, “Yasna Polyana“ and “Asenovets“.
According to the Acting Minister of Environment and Water, Petar Dimitrov, the lack of drinking water is mainly caused by the extremely low efficiency of the use of the water resource and the large losses in the water transmission network.
In June, the warmest month on record, the average runoff for the state, measured at river mouths, fell by 72% compared to 2023, according to Ecoministry data.