Pipe Dreams: Much of Kosovo Still Waiting for Proper Sewage System

According to a 2020 report by the Kosovo Democratic Institute, KDI, 90 per cent of wastewater in Kosovo is directly or indirectly discharged into rivers without proper filtration. In the three years up to June 2020, 32 million euros were earmarked for sewage filtration, but only 2.2 million euros was actually spent.

Nexhmedin Miftari showing the wastewater being discharged in the river without proper filtration implants in Cernica. Photo: BIRN

The EU-funded project in Cernica brought some "relief", said resident Agron Sherifi. "It was embarrassing to have your wastewater right there in your neighbour's backyard," he said, gesturing to his cousin, who laughed.

The KDI report identified the open-air discharge of wastewater as one of the main causes of infections and pollution in the country, accounting for "bacteria, mushrooms, parasites, and viruses that could cause infections of intestines, lungs… diarrhoea, fever, cramps, and sometimes vomiting, headache, weakness and loss of appetite," said KDI's Diana Metushi Krasniqi.

"Some of the bacteria and diseases carried in wastewater include Escherichia Coli, typhoid fever, salmonella, and cholera." Cases of acute diarrhoea rose 50 per cent between 2015 and 2017, for example.

'I can't work'

The wastewater collector without proper filtrating implants in the Emshir neighborhood in Pristina. Photo: BIRN

The Kosovo Water Services Regulatory Authority, ARRU, told BIRN that seven firms are licenced to offer water services across Kosovo, but as of 2020, sewage services in 965 of 1,301 settlements in the country are not handled by any of those seven. These include Cernica and more than 40 other settlements in the wider Gjilan/Gnjilane municipality, which did not respond...