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| Surface sewage Durres |
Tens of millions of dollars injected into Durrës' Water Supply and Sewerage Company haven't resolved the issue of discharging wastewater into the sea, an ecological "bomb" that contradicts the government's plans to transform the city-port into an elite tourism destination.
Despite the scorching sun, Baki Myrtollari continues to tread along the canal that runs through his neighborhood on the outskirts of Durrës. Since settling here in 2003, he has witnessed how the canal quickly turned into a "natural collector," gathering used water from residences and releasing it into the sea, as VOA reports.
As he squints under the strong August sun, Myrtollari contemplates his next step in his long-standing battle with the authorities, which began five and a half years ago to enable the rehabilitation of the canal and the provision of services by the Durrës Water Supply and Sewerage Company.
"A massive environmental massacre is being perpetrated against the former Kënetë community, with a population of over 45,000 residents coexisting with polluted water and drinking water," Myrtollari says in a condemning tone.
Although the government has grand plans for tourism development in Durrës, the outdated infrastructure for treating wastewater remains a challenge for the coastal city.
Durrës Water Supply and Sewerage Company is the second-largest in Albania and has been consistently supported by donors and the state budget to enhance the provision of drinking water and sewerage services.
Despite ongoing credits and benefits in water supply and sewerage projects, data secured through the 'Right to Information' law and interviews with environmental experts, as obtained by BIRN, indicate that a significant portion of the municipality still discharges untreated wastewater into the sea.
The discharge of polluted water has turned some of the city's most popular beaches into "ecological bombs," endangering the health of beachgoers due to the high microbial load in the water.
The State Supreme Audit and experts on the water supply and sewerage system blame mismanagement of funds and unplanned investments for the public enterprise's failure to improve the situation.
In a written response, the Regional Water Supply and Sewerage Company Durrës (RWSSCD) told BIRN that they have a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) with European standards – the result of an €11 million investment by the government and the EU Delegation. However, not the entire network is connected to this system.
"The beach area - Ura Dajlanit-Plepa - fully discharges wastewater into the WWTP. Meanwhile, we have areas in the city, such as Shkozeti, Former Kënetë, Spitalla, or Porto-Romano, which are partially connected to the plant," RWSSCD stated.
Lack of Sewage Systems
In an attempt to develop elite tourism, the Albanian government, led by Prime Minister Edi Rama, granted a concession for the commercial port of Durrës to an investor from the Middle East, Muhamed Alabar, aiming to transform it into a luxury yacht marina with hotels and apartments.
Referring to an interview with Alabar on the American cable network 'CNN', Prime Minister Edi Rama declared that the project by the investor from the United Arab Emirates would turn Durrës into a 'little Dubai of the Mediterranean'.
However, the ambitions of the Albanian government appear to clash with the deteriorated sewage infrastructure in the coastal city and the mismanagement of the public water supply and sewage enterprise by the municipality.
According to the State of Environment Report for 2021, prepared by the National Environment Agency, Durrës' Water Supply covers water supply services for 90.8% of the population and sewage services for only 54.6%.
The sole wastewater treatment infrastructure in several areas of the city near the port consists of open channels, which were once used for draining agricultural land.
These channels start from the already urbanized Shkozet area, pass through the former Kënetë area and Porto-Romano, and branch off through 26 secondary channels drawn from the Porto-Romano hydrostructure and discharged into the sea, along with the "polluted waters" from the Spitallë area.
"In terms of ecosystems, there are virtually dead in most cases. Don't think that there's an ecosystem where life thrives or where there are fish. There isn't due to accumulated pollution and hypertrophication," said Olsi Nika, executive director of the environmental organization 'Eco Albania'.
"The problem also affects the sea because all these channels collect in the main collectors, which then flow into the sea in the Porto-Romano area, extending their impact to the sea," explained Nika, who authored a scientific study on the area.
The lack of sewage systems leads to high organic pollution of surface waters due to untreated urban discharges, exceeding the allowed limit at the monitoring station in Porto-Romano.
This station is the only one in Albania where the total phosphorus content for 2021 exceeded the permitted limit.
"These waters and the eutrophication they carry lead to oxygen depletion and damage to all living organisms around and beyond," says hydrobiologist Aleko Miho, a professor in the Department of Biology at the Faculty of Natural Sciences at the University of Tirana.
New Loans, Old Problems
According to the balance sheet data for the past year, Durrës Water Supply registered 16.2 billion lek in debt, approximately 160 million euros, highlighting the company's precarious financial position. With the government's reform of water supply companies, it has now become the "Regional Water Supply and Sewage Company of Durrës" (SHRUKD), with shareholders including the Ministry of Economy and Energy with 51% of shares, the Municipality of Durrës with 32.47%, the Municipality of Kavajë with 8.49%, the Municipality of Krujë with 3.45%, the Municipality of Shijak with 2.43%, and the Municipality of Rrogozhinë with 2.16%.
According to Durrës Water Supply, over the past decade, 12 investments out of 67 have been made in the city's sewage network. In 5 cases, they were financed by Durrës Water Supply itself, in 3 cases through the state budget, and in 4 cases through donors and the state budget via government agencies.
Initially, in 2013, through a loan from the World Bank worth $85.3 million, the "Investment Project for the Water Sector in Albania" aimed to improve the existing water supply and sewage network in the Durrës region.
At the beginning of this year, approval was granted for the implementation of a project to reconstruct the water supply network in the city area, in collaboration with the central government. It was approved through the French Development Agency, securing another loan worth 60 million euros.
The company has faced negative records in several audits by the State Supreme Audit Institution, which identified unrealized but certified works, payments for incomplete works, and companies lacking the necessary ISO certifications for water supply works.
In a written response, Durrës Water Supply told BIRN that the objective of the first loan from the World Bank was to increase capacities, improve technical losses, expand the water supply network in rural areas, enhance water supply schedules, rehabilitate the sewage network in the Beach area, and expand the network in the urban area near Vollga.
However, the widespread distribution of investments in an extensive plan, according to experts, indicates weak management that doesn't solve the problem but extends it over time.
"I believe we should start with the area with the highest depreciation because if you work in pieces, you won't achieve results ever," said Avni Dervishi, an engineer specialized in water supply and sewage issues in the country.
"If you invest in a sewage line today, after 10 years, it will become old, and you haven't achieved anything because the system will collapse again," he added.
Discriminated Citizens
Out of 94,000 service contracts connected to the water supply, only 14 percent belong to the densely populated areas of Shkozet, Ish-Kënetë, Spitallë, and Porto-Romanos, where sewage networks are largely absent, causing concerns for residents.
In the informal area of Ish-Kënetë, residents state that their requests to the water supply company for sewage treatment have fallen on deaf ears.
"All the sewage is in the canal, an environmental massacre, an ecological and biological bomb for this population. These people should be imprisoned for this alone," angrily defined the environmental situation in Ish-Kënetë, Baki Myrtollari.
Aqif Kurti, along with other residents from one of the areas most affected by sewage issues, protested in May 2021, seeking the government's attention for investments in the area.
"We have other problems as well because they create a stench during the summer, with mosquitoes, in winter they fill up and get blocked," Kurti says.
In collaboration with civil society organizations, they referred the case to the Commissioner for Protection against Discrimination, who, through Decision No. 61 of April 13, 2021, ruled, "The finding of discrimination against residents of the Ish-Kënetë area, on 'Gjelbërimi' road and 'Azem Hajdari' road, due to place of residence, by the Municipality of Durrës."
Following the decision, Myrtollari and a group of residents turned to the Administrative Court of Durrës to highlight institutional responsibilities and seek compensation for the environmental damage and the lack of service.
"Until now, [the court] has not taken it [under consideration]," he said. "We've requested acceleration because some of these elderly people might die before the trial," Myrtollari appealed.
On October 28, 2021, former Deputy Prime Minister Arben Ahmetaj was compelled to address the Parliament about the investment situation in the area after Myrtollari and other residents referred the cause through opposition deputy Ferdinand Xhaferaj.
"After protests and petitions, the residents of 'Rrugë Gjelbërimi-Azem Hajdari,' since they didn't take us into account, we turned to the Parliament of the Republic of Albania, where we requested an interpellation with the deputy prime minister," Myrtollari recalled.
Polluted Waters Discharged into the Sea
According to the National Environmental Agency, urban waters in the city of Durrës are discharged into the sea in several areas. From the monitoring of discharges at three monitoring points, suspended matter was assessed above the permissible limits in two of them for the year 2022, at the Porto-Romanos station (hydrometer) and at Currilat, in the sea.
In addition to Porto-Romanos, according to the NEA, the environmental situation with polluted waters continues to be severe in other coastal areas of Durrës. The agency, in a letter dated June 13, 2023, informed the Durrës Municipality and the water supply company that, "... continues to be problematic with high microbial pollution after the Canal at Plepat and Shkëmbi i Kavajës".
The letter also reported on a point located nearby, known as "Përroi i Agait" (Agai River). Despite being requested for the tenth consecutive year to take measures, the water supply company has not been able to improve the situation because both of these canals collect the sewage discharges of administrative units.
In another important point for Durrës' tourism, the Taulantia Promenade, a pipe for discharging untreated waters from neighborhood number 1 is still active. Most of the city's hotels, restaurants, and tourism-related businesses are located there.
The Durrës Water Supply Company admitted that there are several points for discharging polluted waters into the sea along the coast, and 2 of them are in the Vollga area. However, according to them, these points are activated only during heavy rainfalls and when there is a risk of flooding, as the sewage systems also collect rainwater.
"During intense rains, since the station cannot handle the influx of polluted waters and added rainwater, we are forced to open the gates and discharge into the sea," explained the Water Supply Company.
Hydrobiologist Olsi Nika revealed that during the preparation of a report assessing surface waters in the Ish-Kënetës drainage channel system, pollution levels were significantly high throughout the inhabited area.
"In all the sampling stations we took water samples from, pollution was absolutely at its maximum, meaning the water quality was 'very poor' in most stations, possibly 'poor' or slightly less poor along the coastline, as the sea has a greater self-purification ability," Nika said.
Prof. Dr. Aleko Miho emphasizes that the high pollution level poses a risk to human health.
"For human life, without doubt, these often become sources of epidemics or even pandemics," he said. "Every time we discharge water from our toilets, bidets, we carry many pathogenic bacteria, viruses, microbes, and others, which can cause a variety of diseases," added Miho.
The discharge of polluted waters into the sea has increased the microbial load on Durrës' most popular beaches.
According to BIRN's observations, one of the 2 discharge points along the promenade, a concrete pipe, communicates with the sea waters during the dry summer season. On the other hand, the pumping station in the Ish-Kënetës area, which conveys sewage to the processing plant, discharges black waters through a window in the lower part, which then ends up in the sea through Porto-Romanos.
According to data provided by the National Environmental Agency to BIRN, it turns out that for microbial loads, 7 monitoring stations exceed the permissible limit for "Escherichia Coli (FC)" and 14 monitoring stations exceed the permissible limit for "Enterococcus Intestinalis (IE)".
The permitted limit for IE is 100, while "After the Canal in (Plepa)" is at 2879, and at "Zhiron Beach (Kështjella)", it is at 1210.
According to Olsi Nika, the discharge of polluted waters into the sea poses a health risk for beachgoers.
"A series of problems arise, ranging from skin infections to more serious infections that can enter the respiratory tract, the bloodstream," he concluded.