Rijeka, March 21, 2023 – In the City Hall of the City of Rijeka, a public presentation of the project ” Improvement of the water communal infrastructure – Rijeka Agglomeration”, currently one of the largest communal projects in the Republic of Croatia, was held. This project will increase the population’s connection to the wastewater drainage system, optimize and improve the functioning of the existing public drainage system, and increase the quality of water supply.
The project ” Improvement of the water communal infrastructure – Rijeka Agglomeration” envisages the construction of a second stage wastewater treatment plant in Rijeka at the Delta location, the construction and reconstruction of approximately 217 kilometers of sewage and 125 pumping stations. In addition, construction works will be carried out on about 100 kilometers of public water supply in two cities – Rijeka, Kastav, and three municipalities – Viškovo, Čavle and Jelenje, which make up the area of the Rijeka agglomeration.
Simultaneously with the construction works on the public drainage system, parts of the public water supply system will be replaced in areas where it is impossible to carry out construction works on the public sewage system without damaging the water supply pipelines. These replacements will reduce losses in the water supply system by about 8% and increase the quality of water supply for users. Current water losses in the Rijeka water supply system are within acceptable limits and are significantly below the level of average actual losses in water supply systems in Croatia.
The Mayor of the City of Rijeka, Marko Filipović, explained the importance of the project for the regional communal infrastructure and what the final realization of the project will mean for the everyday life of citizens and the community.
Andrej Marochini , the director of KD VODOVOD I KANALIZACIJA d.o.o., and Alen Miličević, Project implementation coordinator, spoke about the progress of the construction works, i.e. the activities realized so far, the details of the current works and future plans in the area of the Rijeka agglomeration.
Currently, 4 groups of construction works are active. Construction work is underway on two groups of works, namely A-Rijeka Zapad and E-extension Viškovo, and preparatory construction works on group C-extension Rijeka and D-extension Kastav. We would like to add that in the past two weeks, work has also begun on 4 new locations in the city, in Liburnska Street, Dražička Street, and Primorska Street in Zamet, and Pehlin. On the main city roads, work is being carried out on transport collectors of the sanitary consumable type, which will lead waste water from the peripheral areas of the agglomeration to the UPOV on the Delta.
Construction works are also underway on the group of works E-extension Viškovo, in the settlement of Trtni and Furićevo.
At the end of March, construction works are expected to begin on the Drenova subsystem, the Srdoči-Grbci subsystem and the sanitary wastewater drainage system of the Rubeši-Martinkovac urban area. In April, the start of construction works near the recycling yard towards Stupari was announced, and in May, construction works are expected on the Kantrida-Zamet subsystem. At the beginning of the summer, the construction works are expected to start in Adamićeva street. During the construction works, traffic through Adamićeva Street will be completely redirected to Riva Street, where two-way vehicle movement will be represented. The deadline for carrying out the construction works, during which Adamićeva street will be closed to traffic, will be 8 months. Also in the summer months, as part of a joint investment with the city of Rijeka, construction works will begin on Vjekoslav Dukić Street, which includes the reconstruction of the intersection with Toma Strižić Street, after Energo finalizes the construction works on the laying of heating pipes.
“Implementation of such an extensive but generational project requires challenging and long-term work with excavations at some of the most frequent locations, so I would like to thank all citizens for their patience so far. Although some roads and parts of the city will be closed to traffic for some time, this project will ensure the quality of the water service and raise the utility and living standards of the users. In addition to the fact that by building this infrastructure we are reaching the standards of the more developed countries of the European Union, with this project we will also preserve our region for future generations. The generational project will ensure that in the future we will have quality drinking water and clean sea in this area, which will be additionally protected by the work of the new and more modern UPOV. For all the above reasons, I ask citizens for further understanding and patience in the form of future construction works,” said the director of KD VODOVOD I KANALIZACIJA d.o.o., Andrej Marochini.
An important contribution to the preservation of the marine environment – the coastal sea and the Rijeka water area – will be ensured by the construction of a new Wastewater Treatment Plant (UPOV), which will biologically treat waste water before it is discharged into the sea. In addition to preserving the marine environment, UPOV and the entire infrastructure will contribute to the preservation of marine habitats and species, as well as reducing pollution.
The public presentation was organized in order to inform local communities, citizens and the general public about the realized and future phases of EUPAR project activities. As part of the public presentation, info-points were set up at three locations in the city: on Main Square Korzo, Zamet near the hall, and on Trsat near the church. Citizens will be informed about all the construction works in a timely and detailed manner through the media, the website and the GIS web application, which they can easily access via the official website of the EUPAR project https://aglomeracijarijeka.eu
