This article concerns the calculation of the Groundwater Protection Zones (GWPZ) of the Pozharan/Požaranje wellfield. It shows the methodology of delineating water source protection zones with a hydrogeological computer model and serves as an example for further work in this field. The wellfield is located in the southeastern part of Kosovo, about 1 km west of Viti/Vitia and is an important water supply source for the neighboring villages. The wellfield is located 35 km southeast of Prishtina/Priština, the capital city of Kosovo. A total of four public water production wells have been drilled into the aquifer for which the protection zones will be calculated. In order to delineate the Groundwater Protection Zones according to the Kosovar regulations, a groundwater model was set up to calculate the groundwater flow in the well field. Data has to be collected to create such a model. With help of previous studies and own investigations, the aquifer was identified. A large part of the work is finding observation wells (piezometers) in the study area and measuring its height and groundwater level. Afterwards, the model was calibrated. The model is capable of calculating flow paths and by means of particle tracking, it is possible to visualize where the water comes from. Adding the speed of groundwater flow, the time dependent zones can be drawn. Finally, the three protection zones were described as well as the proposed land use restrictions and the recommendations for land use planning were described. Several hazards to groundwater were identified and described inside those zones.
In the past decade, the Rural Water and Sanitation Support Program in Kosovo (RWSSP) funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) has significantly increased the access to public water supply of the rural population of Kosovo. Currently in Phase VI, the programme is supporting the regional water companies of Kosovo to protect the water resources used for public water supply. This article presents the programs phase VI output 2.5.1: improved water source protection. The programme started to support the first implementation of a ground water protection zone (locally called sanitary protection zone) in Kosovo according to laws and through a systematic process. This article describes the full process of establishing sanitary protection zones for public groundwater wells in Kosovo and reveals the technical and administrative challenges and lessons learned when doing so. The technical investigations require detailed surveys starting from geological, hydrogeological and morphological field work as well as monitoring of groundwater levels, realization of additional piezometers, calculation of hydrogeological parameters and several more. For the Lipjan well field, a hydrogeological computer model was established to understand groundwater flow and to delineate the three necessary groundwater source protection zones. The technical understanding further requires a pollution survey and water quality analysis.
Republic of Kosovo has 1,304 settlements from which only 37 are urban and 1,267 are rural. Shown in percentage, only 39.2% (765,125) of inhabitants live in urban areas. The focus is to work and find the best and cheap solutions for the 60.8% (1,173,370) of inhabitants of the country which live in rural areas. From this number only 42% of them have access to the sewage network while 60.8% of them have implemented individual solutions (latrines) without any treatment, leading to a large pollution of the water bodies. The existing rural sewage networks are built only with septic tanks, poorly designed and do not fulfill the wastewater treatment criteria. Regarding this issue, the Kosovan legislation concerns only urban areas (settlements of more than 2,000 inhabitants) and is expected to be completed in 2014 for rural areas according to the EU (European Union) directive for wastewater discharge. As a pilot project, the CDI (community development initiatives) started with WWTP (waste water treatment plants) based on the Vertical Constructed Wetland option (french model) as it appears to be the most adapted option in this rolling, rural, and temperate climate context, implementing this kind of treatment in 3 villages for the first time in Kosovo. Through this, it is interesting to take a perspective on all the phases of these projects starting from feasibility reports, project design to concept and modalities of implementation and options for operation and maintenance, in order to assess how this technical option is feasible and replicable in the country at a large scale. It finally appears that the potential for constructed wetland in the Balkan region is promising as it provides a simple solution for most of the regional constraints, but requires skills to be developed locally for designing and building as well as a deeper consideration in the national regulation.
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