A filter or a new water supply system to save the town of Merichleri

There are two options for dealing with the crisis with the excessive arsenic content in the water supply in the town of Merichleri and the village of Velikan – either for a filter to be installed or for a new water supply network to be built. The cost of the water conduit filter will be €30,000, while a new water supply system will cost millions of leva, told Klassa, Stanimir Evtimov, Manager of 'ViK Dimitrovgrad' (Water Supply and Sewerage SPLTD). We must find as quickly as possible an installation which will eliminate the arsenic content. The first alternative is to connect the town to the water supply network of the town of Dimitrovgrad which will cost €180,000. We could also renovate the plumbing blocked in the 1990's, which is located in the residential district of Chernokonevo, explained Evtimov. According to him, the content of 25 microgrammes of arsenic per litre is not too much, given that this element is with a valency of six. It should also be verified why, in 2001, the permitted arsenic content fell five-fold and that of ammonia rose at the same rate, added he.

Probably, the funding will be granted under EMEPA (Enterprise for Management of Environmental Protection Activities) or under the Interdepartmental Commission on Disasters, said the Mayor of Dimitrovgrad, Stefan Dimitrov. The problem is that, since the 1980's, no samples of the water have been taken.

As Klassa wrote on Saturday, the water which the residents of the town of Merichleri and the villages of Velikan and Tatarevo have been drunking and cooking with for seven months had a higher arsenic content. At the same time, the Regional Inspectorate for Protection and Control of Public Health (RIPCPH) issued a recommendation to the water utilities in the region to warn people about this and seek a technical solution to the pollution problem. The latter issued a warning stating that the water was no good for drinking or cooking.

As of December 10, a crisis team functions in Dimitrovgrad. The Civil Protection Service has supplied tanks of water to the residents of Merichleri and Velikan. Water for the settlements in crisis is expected from the Civil Protection Service of Stara Zagora as well. The water tanks are being guarded by the police. The use of drinking water was allowed in Tatarevo yesterday since the village is supplied from the Haskovo water-main.

“The situation in Merichleri and Velikan is not clear yet and these settlements will still be supplied with water via tanks,” Dr. Delcho Yanev, head of RIPCPH – Haskovo, said at a press conference yesterday. RIPCPH – Haskovo has not received an opinion from the water utility of Dimitrovgrad as to how the problem will be solved.