Water Supply and Wastewater Management

Water supply

For today, water supply has become established, quantitative developments have been finished. Of course there are long-term tasks in this area too: we have to take into account future demands on the outskirts of cities or villages for example, taking into account the small-village system characteristic of the operational area of the Directorate. The other long-term goal is related with water quality improvement. Although the water supplied to users is of course at a good quality, but issues like obsolete water treatment techniques, changes in water consumption and other circumstances will emphasise the importance of water quality.

The capacity of already existing water-infrastructure and waterworks is on average acceptable. However, here we must mention that today’s water consumption by citizens is much less than in previous years. In Baranya County, the condition of the public water system has improved to a great deal. All the villages in the county (301) have domestic water supply, so the water-supply index here is 96 percent. 

The water-supply system of Somogy County has been perfect for years. In all 218 villages there are functioning waterworks, and tap water is available. The capacity of these waterworks is average, but further water treatment improvements are necessary. The villages that became connected to the system in previous years are all small in their numbers of people, so this did not change the regional water-supply index much. In the area of Somogy, the domestic water supply index is 94,8 percent, in cities 97,8, and in villages 92 percent high.

In Tolna County, all the villages (11) in the operational area of the Directorate have domestic water supply, and the water supply index is 95,3 percent.
The Decree of 201/2001 (X. 25.) states quite strict maximum limits of pollutant-concentrations in water. Based on this, villages in the operational area of the Directorate have had to meet water supply quality and pollutant limit criteria. The water had to be improved in its contained arsen, boron, fluoride, nitrite, ammonia, iron, manganese and iodine content. 

Public Sewage System and Maintenance

Despite dynamic development in water supply, the sewer system in Baranya has fallen behind, as it has in the whole country. Altogether 65 percent of the county’s inhabitants live in areas with wastewater management and sewage systems. Out of the 301 villages, 49 have a public sewer system. The supply index in villages is about 20, while in cities it is about 82,7 percent.
The sewer system and sewage treatment status of Somogy in several parts has changed due to the central developments of the Directorate, carried out in Kaposvár, Barcs and Csurgó, and also in the holiday resorts and catchment area around Balaton. 63,7 percent of the inhabitants in this region live in settlements with a public sewer system. Out of the 218 settlements, the water sewage system can be found in 64. In our operational area, the wastewater system is supplied for 51,9 percent of people, in villages, this index is 8,6 percent and in cities 82,5 percent. In Tolna County, out of the 11 settlements, three have wastewater treatment, and 52,3 percent of people live in settlements equipped with sewer system. The index of sewer system supply is 46.6 percent. These data indicate that in the operational area of the Directorate, one of the fields to be improved in settlemental infrastructure is wastewater management and treatment.

It is important to note however that Hungary has joined the European Union, and that now falls under EU policy regarding wastewater treatment and management. We both have to pay a great deal of attention to local characteristics and settings, and also EU regulations, so focusing on vulnerable areas in terms of pollution, settlement size and all time economic benefits is a must.