How would Earth look like without water? Would it look like a desert? Nowadays, some minimum quantities of water can be found even in the deserts. Life on Earth would be impossible without water. That is why according to scientists, life may exist on a given planet if water is found there. Water is all around us and water content in each human body is around 75%. We use water for various purposes, but we do not realize that billions of people worldwide do not have access to clean drinking water, let alone use it for other household needs. Many countries have already become aware of the importance of that amazing source of life. That is why they started to celebrate on March 22 the World Water Day. This day was first formally proposed in Agenda 21 of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In Bulgaria the World Water Day is organized by the Bulgarian Water Association and I Love Water Association.

“We celebrate the World Water Day on March 22, but we also dedicated a whole week to water”, Antoaneta Salfidge from the I Love Water Association told Radio Bulgaria. “This year the event is marked at the University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy which celebrates 75 years since its foundation. The university hosts an exhibition named Bulgaria's Fountains which has been held for nearly one week now. People from all parts of the country are taking part in that exhibition. The official award ceremony will be held on Wednesday at 4 pm. Only some of the organizers and the jury members know the names of this year's winners.”

Do Bulgarians take good care of their water resources? Antoaneta Salfidge has more:

“We must realize that there is enough clean and alkaline drinking water in Bulgaria. Bulgaria is rich in water and the quantities of drinking water in Bulgaria exceed the ones in other countries and continents. Unfortunately, when we have something in abundance, we usually do not pay attention to it and we think that we do not have to take care of that resource. The development of modern technologies makes us talk about innovations in the water sector. People are the main driving force of innovations and if we do not know how to manage the water resources we cannot guarantee that it will be of good quality and at reasonable price. The water price in Bulgaria's capital Sofia is likely to increase with 18% and according to the plans, its price will see a 50% increase in the next 5 years or so, which is a lot. The main motif of the company that insists on that price increase is that the water sector in Sofia needs money for innovations.”

Meanwhile, the water in many Bulgarian towns and villages is dirty and muddy and cannot be used even for household needs. Water pipe failures occur in many places, including the country's capital Sofia and large quantities of drinking water are wasted on the streets at the expense of the consumers. Unfortunately, the authorities have been paying bigger attention to waste water treatment. Many expensive wastewater treatment plants were built in Bulgaria, but water cycle projects were at the bottom of the priority list, Antoaneta Salfidge adds.

“Indeed, the supply of fresh drinking water remained in the background", Antoaneta Salfidge further said. "It is not clear to what extent the projects related to the construction of the water treatment plants were fulfilled. This problem has been discussed by experts only. Moreover – what happens at the exit point of waste water purification plants? Large quantities of residue and sludge remain, which is a huge ecological time bomb. If the authorities fail to solve the issue related to the residue at the water treatment plants we are to face an enormous ecological problem.”

English version: Kostadin Atanasov