2005 - 2006 - Pinsent Masons Water Yearbook 2012

ROMANIA PART 2: COUNTRY ANALYSIS
Romania
Economics (2003)
GDP per capita US$2,260
GDP per capita (PPP) US$7,140
Agriculture 12%
Industry 36%
Services 52%
Water pricing and plans
Charges for domestic wastewater vary from US$0.20/m 3 to 0.35/m 3 , with charges for water provision
in 1997 typically varying from between US$0.60/m 3 and US$0.75/m 3 , representing 2.5–3.0% of
household incomes.
Current water pricing covers all provision costs. The formulae used are under review for the more
efficient allocation of water. In order to take into account the special needs of the poor the taxes and
prices for household and agricultural use of water is one third less than those for use by industry. The
estimated cost for achieving universal coverage of water and sanitation in Romania is about US$500
million in the short term (3-5 years) and about US$700 million in the medium term (5-10 years).
Population
Total (2003, million) 21.7
Total (2015, million) 21.1
In urban areas (2003) 56%
In urban areas (2015) 56%
In urban agglomerations (2015) 10%
Sewerage and sewage treatment
The Siret River basin has a total population (including some people in the Ukraine) of four million. The
city of Galati (330,000 people) has no sewage treatment. 42% of the area’s population lives in urban
areas. 77% of these are connected to sewerage networks, 50% of which gets its sewage treated.
This implies that 17% of people in the area have access to STWs. Including industrial effluents, the
EBRD has identified a basic level of €250 million needed for investments in municipal and industrial
effluent treatment.
Sewage treatment (1992)
Tertiary treatment 0%
Secondary treatment 29%
Primary treatment 8%
None 63%
By 1997, 50% of urban sewerage was treated. In 2000, 83% of urban and 11% of rural households
were connected to a sewerage system. Recycling of wastewater is undertaken in only a few local
industrial installations. Some 50% of industrial discharges are untreated. Lower industrial wastewater
discharges and the impact of more municipal wastewater treatment has been seen in the improvement
of inland waters:
River water quality 1985 1994 2002
Good 35% 54% 66%
Fair / Poor N/A 34% 27%
Bad N/A 12% 7%
The Romanian Water Association (ARA) stated in 2003 that it believes that €18.64 billion needs to be
invested by 2023 to upgrade Romania’s water and wastewater infrastructure to meet EU
requirements. This includes €14.4 billion for urban areas, an average of €1,220 million a year. After
taking into account possible EU grants and government financing, there will still be a shortfall of
around €1,100 million a year which would need to be made up by the private sector.
The EU’s IPSA is supporting the development of wastewater treatment facilities through a series of
grants running to 2007. Eleven wastewater treatment plants projects have been approved to date by
166 Pinsent Masons Water Yearbook 2005 – 2006