What happens to Bucharest's wastewater after 40 years of works and hundreds of millions of euros in EU funding

Laura Popa

Reporter

Bucharest needed almost 40 years and European funds to clean up its wastewater.

Wastewater, once used for irrigation

Before the Glina Wastewater Treatment Plant (SEAU Glina) was built, everything flushed away by Bucharest’s residents flowed directly into the Dâmbovița River. From there, it reached the Argeș, then emptied into the Danube, and ultimately into the Black Sea.

According to the feasibility study that served as the basis for the first phase of the Glina project, „the discharge of untreated wastewater from Bucharest was considered the main factor degrading water quality in the Dâmbovița and Argeș rivers—and also one of the main sources of pollution in the Danube.”

In 1985, dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu promised to begin work on the Glina Regional Treatment Plant—„a large-scale project designed to collect the polluted waters discharged into the Dâmbovița River and purify them to such a degree of clarity that they could be reused multiple times: to supply irrigation systems around Bucharest and to allow navigation on the Dâmbovița.”

After the Revolution and several fuel oil pollution incidents affecting the Dâmbovița River, work at Glina was halted, leaving the treatment plant non-operational. What remained were only memories—and a series of basins along the Dâmbovița.

In 2000, Romania officially began negotiations with Brussels for accession to the European Union. At that time, Bucharest was the only European capital without a wastewater treatment plant.

Four years later, in 2004, in an effort to close the development gap between Romania and the rest of the European Union, a memorandum was signed to finance the rehabilitation of Bucharest’s wastewater treatment plant—an investment to be carried out in two phases.

Thus, work at Glina resumed.

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€65 million in EU funds received before accession

According to a response provided by Bucharest City Hall to PressOne, the construction of the Glina Wastewater Treatment Plant (SEAU Glina) took place in two phases, both relying on non-reimbursable European funding.

„A first phase of construction work was carried out between 2007 and 2011 under the project ‘Rehabilitation of the Bucharest Wastewater Treatment Plant’, financed with European funds through the Financing Memorandum for ISPA Measure 2004/RO/16/P/PE/003, loans from the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, as well as the local budget,” according to the response sent to the newsroom.

Through the ISPA program (Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-Accession), Romania received financial support for several investments related to environmental protection and transport. Most of the funds were allocated to major wastewater and waste infrastructure projects, including the rehabilitation of the Glina plant.

The same response provided to PressOne by Bucharest City Hall shows that 65% of the funding for the first stage of the Glina plant’s rehabilitation came from non-reimbursable pre-accession funds.

Initially, as a result of the project’s first phase, SEAU Glina was expected to mechanically and biologically treat a flow rate of 10 m³/second. Mechanical treatment was to be carried out using bar screens to remove impurities, while biological treatment would break down all organic matter and remove phosphorus, which is toxic to aquatic ecosystems.

However, in line with European standards, it became necessary to „reduce the biological treatment capacity and introduce additional treatment for phosphorus removal, resulting in the following parameters: the mechanical stage can handle a flow of 10 m³/s, while the biological and phosphorus removal stages are limited to 5 m³/s,” municipal representatives said in their response to the newsroom.

In 2011, seven years after the financing memorandum was signed, the Glina wastewater treatment plant was put into operation—though only at half capacity—with its management handed over to Apa Nova Bucharest.

Another 10 years were needed for the project’s second phase

With Romania’s accession to the European Union, the country had to align its legislation with EU standards. This also meant stricter limits on substances in surface waters and, for example, new rules for managing the sludge resulting from mechanical wastewater treatment. Thus, SEAU Glina entered the second phase of its expansion and modernization project, which also included building a sludge incinerator—the only one of its kind in Romania.

„In the context of strict limits being imposed on pollutant concentrations in natural water bodies, as well as the need for an integrated management solution for the sludge resulting from wastewater treatment, the second phase of SEAU Glina’s modernization and expansion was carried out, completed in December 2023. The works were financed through the Cohesion Fund, the state budget, and the local budget,” according to the response provided to the newsroom.

According to City Hall, the total eligible value for expanding SEAU Glina and building the incinerator exceeded €152 million, funded through a mix of non-reimbursable European cohesion policy funds, loans from the European Investment Bank, the national government budget, and the City Hall budget.

In a response provided to PressOne by the Ministry of Investments and European Projects, the project „Completion of the Glina Wastewater Treatment Plant, rehabilitation of the main sewer collectors and of the Dâmbovița Collector Canal (Caseta) in Bucharest” was included in the Sectoral Operational Programme for Environment (POS Mediu) for the 2007–2011 EU funding period. The same response also shows that the project was phased—that is, moved—to the next funding period, 2014–2020.

Delays in completing the works

„Although the tender procedure for awarding the works contract was launched in January 2013, the contract was not signed until June 2017, due to numerous appeals, re-evaluations, and delays in resolving these cases by the courts and the CNSC (National Council for the Settlement of Appeals),” City Hall explained in its response to PressOne.

Representatives of City Hall also stated that, given the date on which the financing contract for the project’s second phase was signed, „no payments were made under POS Mediu.”

The expansion of SEAU Glina and construction of the sludge incinerator faced multiple obstacles, including—according to City Hall—the lengthy approval process, changes in construction legislation, „the emergence and spread of the COVID-19 pandemic,” and the need to expand the electrical installation.

Thus, according to the original deadline, the extension of the plant and construction of the incinerator should have been completed by the end of 2019, but the deadline was pushed to mid-2022.

In reality, the work was only finalized in December 2023. Otherwise, the City Hall would have had to continue the project using its own budget.

The sludge incinerator, the only one of its kind in Romania

According to representatives of Bucharest City Hall, building the sludge incinerator addressed the need for sludge management from wastewater treatment that meets European requirements. The alternative would have been to use it as fertilizer on agricultural land or dispose of it in ecological landfills.

„Order No. 344/2004—a Romanian government regulation—defined strict quality restrictions and application procedures for the agricultural use of sludge. By applying sludge to farmland, the hazardous substances it contains could pose risks to human health, soil, and the environment in general,” the municipality said in its response to the newsroom.

The option of disposing of sludge in landfills was also deemed unviable in the long term, as „available capacities would quickly decrease, leading to a shortage of land and higher disposal costs,” City Hall added in the same response.

Thus, to prevent the sludge resulting from treating Bucharest’s wastewater from becoming a source of pollution, the decision was made to build the incinerator.

„The incineration facility processes the sludge resulting from wastewater treatment at the plant. The sludge-burning process in the incinerator mainly produces flue gases, which are treated and released into the atmosphere, non-hazardous waste known as ash, and hazardous waste referred to as residues,” the response to the newsroom states.

In addition, part of the gases produced during sludge incineration are captured and converted into electricity to power the incinerator itself.

Despite City Hall’s claim that the incinerator operates without issues, Apa Nova—the manager of SEAU Glina—maintains that problems were recorded during the facility’s testing phase.

The new investments are expected to last until 2040

Currently, SEAU Glina has a wastewater treatment capacity of 11.9 m³/s, the equivalent of 1 billion liters of water per day—but that’s in dry weather. When it rains, any volume exceeding the design limit is no longer treated.

„The Wastewater Treatment Plant fully treats all wastewater collected and transported through the sewerage system during dry weather. In rainy weather, SEAU takes in wastewater from the sewerage system up to its design capacity, given that Bucharest’s sewer system is a combined one, as in most European cities,” representatives of Bucharest City Hall said.

According to City Hall, the treatment plant is expected to keep up with Bucharest’s development through 2040.

„The design parameters of SEAU Glina are based on the average wastewater flow projected for the year 2040, corresponding to an equivalent population (…) Based on similar experience with the operation and maintenance of treatment plants of Glina’s capacity, its estimated lifespan could reach 25–30 years,” the response to the newsroom states.

Both the plant’s expansion—increasing its wastewater treatment capacity—and the construction of the sludge incinerator would not have been possible, City Hall representatives said, without European funding: „According to the feasibility study’s conclusions, carrying out the investment without EU financing would not have been sustainable.”

At the same time, Glina has also been the subject of political disputes. While the project was completed during Nicușor Dan’s first term as mayor, former mayor Gabriela Firea took credit for supporting the Glina investment.

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