ENVIRONMENT BULLETIN (13) EASTERN EUROPE: 'Cheaper' Means Suggested to Treat Waste

VIENNA, Nov 12 (IPS) - Eastern European countries should give priority to treating their waste water by using locally available technologies in order to ensure there is always a healthy supply of this precious resource, says a scientific research body.

The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) says attempting Western models, which are quite often expensive, to treat the waste water and improve the quality of the degraded ground water is bound to fail.

"Uniformity of quality standards and emission reductions might be a long-term goal, but in the short run it is unaffordable and impractical," says Laszlo Somlyody, head of the IIASA water resources project.

The IIASA, a scientific body made up mostly of academics from West and East European countries, has carried out research in the field for the past two years in five countries -- Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia.

Thus, Somlyody said this week, the findings apply particularly to the five countries, but they could also be applied to other East European countries.

The research body says it has come up with models for increasing water quality and improving waste water treatment at costs that countries with financial woes could afford.

According to Somlyody, the infrastructure in most of these countries reflect the influence of past policies which favoured water supply over sewer constructions and treatment.

"In general, water supply is adequate, sewage collection systems are less than adequate, wastewater treatment worse, and disposal of treated sludge even less developed," said Somlyody.

A major portion of water used in Budapest, for example, joins the Danube river without being treated, thus polluting the river water as well. In many other areas, says the study, such practices have increased the nitrogen and phosphorous concentrations in river water.

This situation was aggravated by the callous regard given the environment by the former communist governments. Creating huge industrial regions which used eco-damaging materials and chemicals resulted in, among other things, high metal concentrations in the rivers in these areas.

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