Vandentiekis Lietuvoje ir jo problemos

Abstract

About centrelized water supplying to the Lithuanian cities we know already in 16th century, but construction of modem centralized waterworks (pump-houses, metal pipes, water treatment) began only at the end of 19th century. The initial stage of municipal waterwork designing was related to a problem: Which sources should water be taken from? - Surface or underground? Common sense gained the victory - all water users in the Lithuanian cities and settlements obtain groundwater for drinking. After evaluation of groundwater advantages, some cities use artificial groundwater recharge from surface water. High reliability of water supply facilities in Lithuania is ensured (especially in larger cities), because there are several watering-places. Most serious problem is water quality. Major part of supplied water is with increased quantities of iron, but due to financial reasons, only 21% of water is treated. Moreover, there are other very actual problems: short service life of drilled wells, pipes of bad quality, technically primitive and inefficient devices, especially pump units. In order to solve Lithuanian water supply problems, there is a need of not only large investments, but also progressive western engineering "injections" both into research and development of water resources and into progressive water treatment and distribution technologies.