Pskov Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Rehabilitation

Gorvodokanal provides water and wastewater services to residential and industrial customers in the city of Pskov. It operates a water treatment plant with intake from the Velikaya River but due to significant underinvestment, the quality of drinking water and levels of wastewater treatment do not meet national, EU or HELCOM standards. Some sections of the 285km water distribution network require urgent rehabilitation as leakages from old pipes account for 35 per cent of the overall water supply. The wastewater assets, consisting of the collection network, two pumping stations and the treatment plant are in need of serious rehabilitation to improve effluent quality and sludge management practices.

A Priority Investment Programme (PIP) has been developed to address major deficiencies in the wastewater treatment and discharge system, water intake and treatment and the water distribution system. A NDEP grant of €6.5 million will help finance critical investments.

Environmental Benefits

The PIP is set to achieve the following benefits:

• Total estimated BOD5 load reduction in effluent from the WWTP would be 138 t/a.
• Nutrient discharges would decrease by 37 t/a for total phosphorus and by 276 t/a for total nitrogen which will bring the quality of effluent closer towards Russian norms and in compliance with EU requirements and HELCOM recommendations.
• Improvement of the quality of water in the recipient water courses will benefit all inhabitants downstream of Pskov, 2500 local fishermen and local habitats belonging to the Ramsar nature protection sites.
• Ground water will be delivered to ultimate customers in good quality and in compliNce with Russian and EU standards.
• Water losses will be decreased by 20 per cent, with estimated water saving of 7,500 m3/d.
• Beyond the PIP, measures to achieve compliance with the Russian standards would include final UV disinfection and a possible additional biological phase by post-filtration.