2005 - 2006 - Pinsent Masons Water Yearbook 2012

LITHUANIA PART 2: COUNTRY ANALYSIS
Lithuania
Economics (2003)
GDP per capita US$4,500
GDP per capita (PPP) US$11,390
GDP in Agriculture 7%
GDP in Industry 34%
GDP in Services 59%
Laws
Lithuania is undergoing a radical programme of revising environmental legislation and standards in
preparation for compliance with EU environmental standards. A draft Standard on Drinking Water,
Hygiene Requirements and Monitoring is under preparation. Other legislation includes the Law on
Environmental Protection (1992), Lithuanian Environmental Strategy Action Programme (1996), the
Water Law (1997), the Law on Environment Pollution Taxes (1991), and the Draft Law on Drinking
Water (2002). By 2002, all applicable EU directives had been transposed into national law.
Population
2003 (million) 3.5
2015 (million) 3.3
Urbanisation in 2003 69%
Urbanisation by 2015 69%
In urban agglomerations, 2015 0%
Water usage
In 2001, surface water extraction was 4,053 million m 3 compared with 4,510 million m 3 in 1991. In
2001, 157 million m 3 came from groundwater resources, against 340 million m 3 in 1991. The decline
in consumption during recent years is related to the decline of industry, economic restructuring, and
the introduction of taxes for water and effluent discharges. In addition, water distribution losses are
being targeted, as they accounted for 23% of groundwater abstractions in 2001; 6 million m 3 per
annum of distribution losses were eliminated between 1999 and 2001.
Water pollution taxes
Litas per tonne 1997 2000 2003
BOD 417 485 714
Nitrogen (N) 417 435 550
Phosphorus (P) 1,418 1,480 2,000
In 2004, plans were prepared to rationalise the country’s 50 larger and 200-300 smaller water entities
into 5-10 regional companies.
Urban Data
Served by piped water 86%
Access to sewerage 80%
With sewage treatment 80%
Sewerage and river water quality
There are more than 700 sewage treatment works in Lithuania with a total capacity of about 1.2
million m 3 per day, 90% being for rural areas, with an average capacity of about 100m 3 per day. The
recycling of wastewater has only been used in the town of Akmene, where all the treated wastewater
(10,000m 3 per day) is utilised in the cement factory. 60.4% of the population was connected to the
sewerage system in 2002. Wastewater discharge has fallen from 252 million m 3 in 1997 to 168
million m 3 by 2002. Further upgrading is still needed as 82% of effluent discharges in 2001 failed the
EU Urban wastewater treatment directive’s standards against 86% in 2000.
137 Pinsent Masons Water Yearbook 2005 – 2006