Wastewater infrastructure in Albania is inadequate; it is either non-existent or of very limited extent and very poor quality. The result is dangerous and deleterious to human health and the environment. To rectify this the country embarked on a wide-ranging number of projects. Here in Pogradec WBIF helped with a capital investment grant of EUR 3.5 million.
This project built on previous and ongoing efforts for the environmental protection of Lake Ohrid and its coastal towns, in this case, Pogradec. Human and industrial waste and wastewater are generally not adequately treated in Albania. In Pogradec, the wastewater generated by the town has been discharged untreated into Lake Ohrid. The wastewater in the area of Pogradec represented the single largest water quality challenge to the lake, significantly contributing to excessive plant growth that disrupts its ecosystem and threatening human health through contamination by harmful bacteria and viruses in faecal material.
In 2001, the German Government, through KfW, and the Swiss Government through Staatssekretariat fur Wirtschaft (SECO) launched the first phase of investments providing funding to design and construct a sewerage collection and wastewater treatment plant for Pogradec and the surrounding villages, covering - now in the third phase of the project - the treatment of wastewater of about 80 % of the town of Pogradec and the villages of the Bucimas Commune. The WBIF supported the extension of the sewerage system in Pogradec, to allow the treatment of all the wastewater produced in the Pogradec area.
Pogradec wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) was completed under phase I (which included adding more connectors to the southeast and east of Pogradec and adding phosphorus removal by chemicals). The network will be further extended in Bucimas Commune, and water supply improved in the villages of Gurras, Remenj and Verdove; their existing water supply network will be rehabilitated. On completion of phase III all villages of Pogradec supply area will benefit from reliable drinking water. The project deals with the environmentally and hygienically sound wastewater collection and treatment in Pogradec as well as reliable drinking water provision to Gurra, Remenj and Verdove. These measures will contribute to the protection of Lake Ohrid water quality and reduce health risks to the populations of Pogradec and surrounding villages.
The estimated total investment for the project (phase III) was approximately EUR 13.5 million, which was made up of funds provided by the CEB through a KfW loan of up to EUR 10 million and a EUR 3.5 million grant provided through the EU's WBIF-IPF Municipal Window Investment Grant. A consultant was recruited in September 2011 and, after preparing the design works and equipment followed by assistance with tendering in 2012, contracts were awarded in April 2013. Construction was completed in 2015.