Submission Continues: Water too is expected to be expensive for the people

Following warnings of rising electricity and heating prices, some authorities in Kosovo warn rising water prices, as a large quantity of water produced for drink fails to get fat at all.

The announced price increase, however, is not linked to lost amounts, but to the rising prices of other basic products.

The Regulatory Authority for Water Services in Kosovo (ARRU) said that over 152m cubic metres of water were produced this year.

Of this amount, some 68m cubic metres, worth 25m euros, have been billed or sold. The amount of unscheduled water is 84 million cubic metres.

According to the annual ARRU report, water is lost due to old infrastructure, damage from road infrastructure work and illegal links.

The lost water reportedly directly affects cost coverage and the profits of water distribution operators. In Kosovo, seven regional water companies operate, providing citizens with drinking water.

The Ujman Lake of Zubin Potok, Batlava in Podujevo, Badoci in Pristina, Radoniqi in Gjakova and Perlepnica in Gjilan, along with the Drini White Rivers at Dukagjini Plain, Ibri in Mitrovica, Morava of Binca in Anamorevo and Lepenci in the south, are some of the main drinking water sources in Kosovo.

For Causech Bajrushh, who worked at the Regional Water Company “Pristina” and is now retired, water loss is an incomprehensible thing.

According to him, the biggest problem in the water services industry over the past two decades is the illegal connection of citizens to the water supply system.

Besides outdated infrastructure, over 25 percent in this system are illegal keys. The fight of institutions should be in identifying illegally linked persons and taking steps against them”, Bajrushi says.