In Serbia Berlinwasser International is leading an international consortium with a staff of experts from Serbia, Germany, Cyprus and the United Kingdom.

The project is making a structural contribution to the sustainable economic development and the improvement of living conditions in Serbia through the Institutional Support Programme. The focus is on measures for rehabilitating the financial situation of suppliers, the efficient management of networks and the introduction of new customer management software.

KfW Entwicklungsbank is financing the 36-month project, the objective of which is to enable the water supply operations in the cities of Belgrade, Novi Sad, Nis and Kragujevac to improve the operations and quality of their water supply. To ensure sustainable operation of the water supply and wastewater treatment systems, the rehabilitation of supply systems for municipal drinking water and industrial water is linked to rates that are both socially sustainable and sufficient to cover expenses.

Belgrade Water Supply and Sewage (BVK) operates the major share of the mains system for drinking water supply and sewage in Belgrade, which supplies around 1.4 million Belgrade residents with their water. Budget restrictions and administrative problems have hindered the necessary investment in plants and the pipe network. Due to pressure losses in supply areas at higher elevations, drinking water does not reach all customers. Only 50 – 70% of wastewater is removed and treated; untreated wastewater ends up flowing into the Sava River and the not confront alone: construction at the Danube dam at the Iron Gate also affected the hydraulic capacity in the sewage network by changing the Danube’s water flow.