Wastewater

Authorities in Thessaloniki, northern Greece, are seeking to crack down on the illegal scrap trade, which is seen as fueling the theft of metal from infrastructure like railways and bridges, as well as polluting the environment.

In line with the Lake Van Basin Protection Action Plan, efforts have begun to clean up mud from the lake bed, which is causing a pungent smell and making it look not so appealing to the eye.

After the commissioning of the Van Central Wastewater Treatment Plant and the reduction of pollution caused by animal waste, the removal of bottom mud has gained momentum.

As efforts to prevent marine mucilage, a thick layer of glop that invaded the Marmara Sea last year, continue with the participation of authorized institutions, a detailed report prepared by a committee set up in the Turkish parliament was presented to Parliament Speaker Mustafa Şentop.

Some 280 Olympic pool volume of wastewater is being discharged from Ergene River in Turkey's northwest to the Marmara Sea every day, according to Greenpeace Mediterranean.

"Industrial wastes had made the Ergene River one of the most polluted streams in the world. Now, these wastes are carried to the depths of the Marmara Sea by pipes," the NGO said in a statement.

While Turkey launched its "largest and most comprehensive sea cleaning mobilization" ever to save the Marmara Sea from a plague of excessive algae, the discharge of toxic wastewater from a fertilizer factory into the sea without treatment has caused public outrage.

The viral load found in the urban wastewater of Athens shows that there may be 80,000 to 90,000 symptomatic or asymptomatic carriers of Covid-19 in the region, said Nikos Thomaidis, professor of analytical chemistry at Athens University.

Turkey's Environment Ministry on April 9 issued a circular on the management of wastewater as part of measures against the deadly COVID-19 outbreak.

As part of the efforts to stem the novel coronavirus, Turkey's Environment and Urbanization Minister Murat Kurum announced a new circular right after another one on waste management.

SOFIA, BULGARIA

The Regional Authority of the Northern Aegean has given the Ministry of Migration Policy 30 days to clean up the overcrowded Moria hot spot for migrants and refugees on the island of Lesvos, or face closure.

On Thursday and Friday at Lavrio in Attica, 27 partners, including some leading European universities, will be presenting the HYDROUSA project, which is getting off the drawing board and into the field this month.