The manager of "Water Supply and Sewerage" (Water and Sewerage) in Shumen Ivan Pushkarov announced that he had decided to postpone the increase in the price of water in the Shumen region after January 1, 2025. He commented on the topic at a meeting in the Shumen Municipality with the mayor of Shumen, Prof. Hristo Hristov, the regional governor, Beynur Ahmed, and the chief engineer of the Water and Sewerage Company - Shumen Anton Stefanov, BTA reported.
He explained that he would make a decision on the price after additional analyses are conducted, which, according to him, will take a month. The possibility of maintaining the current price per cubic meter was contributed by the reduction in water losses along the routes, Pushkarov specified.
Eng. Stefanov explained that the "1300" pumping station was included in the first stage of the project for the construction of the supply water supply, but then, due to high inflation, it was dropped from it, and an additional agreement was signed with a commitment to complete its reconstruction by 2027.
Pushkarov added that in addition to the financing that is planned to be received from "Bulgarian Water Supply and Sewerage Holding" EAD, work is underway to secure funds from national and European programs. "In no way will this commitment that the Water Supply and Sewerage Company has undertaken for the reconstruction of the pumping station be dropped and everything possible will be done by 2027 to complete the commitment," he assured.
The water consumption that Shumen currently has, compared to last year, is lower, announced the mayor of Shumen, Prof. Hristov. As a result of the measures and events taken on a daily basis for the city, we have approached the number of 39,000 - 40,000 cubic meters per day entering the city, while in previous years, for the last two months, we have consumed about 52,000 - 53,000 cubic meters on a daily basis, added Pushkarov. "We are talking about a decrease of about 10,000 - 11,000 cubic meters per day on average, taking into account that the losses in the supply water supply have decreased drastically, this makes about 21,000 cubic meters per day of water savings, which will affect the company's total water losses", said the manager of the Water Supply and Sewerage Company - Shumen.
In recent months, the Water Supply and Sewerage Company has managed to shut down six duplicate water supply lines in the city of Shumen, remaining in the old water cycles in the city, and several major accidents have also been eliminated, said Pushkarov.
After the rainfall in recent days, the level of the "Ticha" dam has risen by about 8 million cubic meters, announced the regional governor Beynur Ahmed. He explained that similar rainfall is expected in January, which will increase the useful volume of the dam. He recalled that the new water supply system has been put into operation. The "1300" pumping station is functioning, provided with a backup pumping unit, which provides security for the people of Shumen, Ahmed emphasized. He also added that he hopes that the water treatment station will be operational in January and the problem with water turbidity will be solved. The regional governor of Shumen also said that water losses along the irrigation canal from the "Ticha" dam, which supplies water to farmers, reach 90 percent. "By the end of 2023, the losses will be 90 percent, which is unacceptable," he emphasized.
The mayor of Shumen, Mr. Hristo Hristov recalled that the Municipality of Shumen is the owner of the pumping station "1300", but the Water and Sanitation Company - Shumen maintains the site and undertakes the commitment to renovate the pumping station, which will be carried out by the Water and Sanitation Company operator. "We from the Municipality of Shumen are specifically directing resources for the new year to build alternative water sources", added Prof. Hristov.
The meeting also commented that documents necessary for commissioning the drinking water treatment plant will be submitted by the Water and Sanitation Company - Shumen to the Directorate for National Construction Control at the beginning of next year. Ivan Pushkarov announced that in connection with the importance of the site, the Water and Sanitation Company will request that the asset be accepted in a shorter period of time.
On December 27, the RHI - Shumen recommended the water for drinking and domestic purposes from the „Ticha“ dam not to be used for drinking and cooking due to an unacceptable increase in the "turbidity" indicator.
"Shoumen Municipality undertakes to begin the restoration of the deep boreholes from the "Makak" district, the water supply, the pumping station to the large reservoirs - the seven-thousand-meter and the eleven-thousand-meter. We must restore the deep borehole, which is under the 5th kilometer and the water supply network to the "Everest" district, the deep boreholes in Belokopitovo, the construction of 4 new deep boreholes in Stuyno, in Drumevo Kladenets and Kostena Reka - 1 deep borehole, and 2 more deep boreholes, which should be near the large reservoirs - the seven-thousand-meter and the eleven-thousand-meter," the mayor of Shumen announced on December 23.
The Chairperson of the Municipal Council - Shumen Asya Asparuhova and the Mayor of Shumen requested in November from the EWRC not to increase the price of water. The Mayor of Shumen supported the request of the Municipal Council to reduce the price of water. He notified the Prosecutor's Office and the EWRC because of the water problems. Over 200 Shumen residents protested on November 8 against the lack of water and the low quality of water in the regional town.