750 kilometres of pipelines would modernise the drinking water supply around Lake Balaton

A HUF 3.2 billion EU-funded project to plan a modern drinking water supply system for Lake Balaton and its region will be completed by the end of the year, allowing for the acquisition of further EU funding to implement the plans, Dunántúli Regionális Vízmű Zrt. (DRV) said at a press conference in Keszthely on Tuesday.

The aim of the project is to ensure the long-term sustainable and economical supply of drinking water in the region, to improve water quality and to bring additional water to the region from karst water sources and the Mura River, said Anita Kovács, Head of Administration and Communications of the project host DRV.

Significant differences between winter and summer

András Czipri, the acting head of the Investment and Development Department of DRV, stressed that the supply of drinking water to the Lake Balaton region is a priority task of DRV. The main challenge is to ensure that the summer season, which is several times more demanding than the winter season, is served smoothly. There is also a problem with ageing pipelines, which causes not only quality but also quantity problems, increases operating costs and affects security of supply, he said, adding that without comprehensive improvements, the region's drinking water supply cannot be fully guaranteed.

750 kilometres of pipeline would be built

At present, the region's drinking water is supplied in varying qualities from the Bakony karst water source and surface water, mainly from Lake Balaton, which is a vulnerable aquifer.

In the future, instead of costly surface water abstraction from the lake, it is planned to provide drinking water to the region by developing and connecting karst water sources (Nyírád and Kincsesbánya) and by using the filtered water of the Mura river. To complete the project, 750 kilometres of pipelines would have to be built, affecting more than 4,800 properties.

The design phase of the project was completed last year, and this year the task is to obtain the permits, said András Czipri.

A huge investment was organised

György Krizsán, Chief Development Engineer, stressed that the plans are for a major technical development worth several hundred billion forints. In order to have a chance of obtaining funding from the EU, the plans had to be drawn up, together with valid permits, he said.

According to the chief engineer, priority should be given to the development of the Kincsesbánya-Rákhegy aquifer, which would require around HUF 30 billion. This would be followed by the extension of the Nyírád branch, and finally the construction of the Murai branch would provide the region with full security of supply. It is up to the decision-makers to decide whether and when the funds will be available to start implementing the plans, he said.

Why it is not ideal to collect drinking water from Lake Balaton

He explained that the supply of drinking water from Lake Balaton needs to be replaced because, although it meets the criteria, the quality of the drinking water from the lake is not ideal. In the summer, the water is very hot, has a high organic matter content and contains some biological contaminants. As for last summer, he noted that there were problems with water quality in some places, but not to the extent that an emergency water supply had to be ordered. He added that DRV's annual water withdrawals from Lake Balaton are less than the amount of water that evaporates from the lake on three hot days.