NOVI SAD TAKES SPECIAL CARE OF ITS WATER SUPPLY STANDARDS

Today’s allegations by Democratic Party that “Novi Sad awaits the World Water Day in absolute disregard for its water supply and the quality of water currently used by the citizens of Novi Sad”, are completely untrue and show that those who state these allegations are completely unaware of certain facts, which, therefore, entirely confutes the above mentioned statements.
In early 2013, only several months after the current City Administration came into power, PUE Waterworks and Sewers applied for the European Commission grant earmarked for producing complete documentation of the waste water treatment facility in Novi Sad, of some 1 million EUR worth. This project is coordinated and headed by Mr. Dragan Božić, MSc, Assistant to the Mayor of Novi Sad in charge for Utility and Energy. The funds were approved in mid-2014, the time at which the process of producing necessary documentation has been initiated, which is a necessary prerequisite to commence construction of this essential facility. 
It is, therefore, unlike all other previous Administrations who only toyed with the idea, that the current City Administration actively succeeded in solving it, and by doing so managed to see that not one single Dinar from the tax payers’ money would be spent for producing the necessary documentation. Although the works are in progress at full speed, the timeframe required to complete all the necessary documentation – as stipulated by the State legal procedures – is due to last for some 18 months, by which time we will have met all the prerequisites to commence the construction.
Bearing in mind that the whole project is done in cooperation with European Commission and under their coordination, we believe it is a good opportunity for the City to apply for donations and grants for the construction of this facility as well, in the process of which we are largely involved. It is with this knowledge that we find it amazing that Democratic Party, who spent a decade of its rule only talking and debating, finds it appropriate to discuss the waste water treatment facility on the World Water Day, the facility for which they have done nothing, falsely pretending to take part of the blame for the present state of affairs along with the current City Administration, who in turn has done everything possible, and in the next term of office it will even start the construction of the waste water treatment facility itself.
- Concerning the quality of potable water in Novi Sad, it is in full accordance with the norms and regulations, which is regularly confirmed by all the reports compiled by the City and Provincial Institute for Public Health. Although the current state of affairs is stable and in that respect our city is among very few in Vojvodina, for two years now we have been thoroughly working on rejuvenation of the existing wells, in order to provide larger quantity of water in future. In this manner, the City and the PUE Waterworks and Sewers allocated 390 million RSD for rejuvenation of water sources. Currently, a pilot-project for rejuvenation of 6 wells at the Štrand water source is in progress, the location which was totally neglected during the previous City Administrations and became completely defunct. One should also note that in 2013, with assistance from the Provincial Secretary for Healthcare, Social Policy and Demography, we achieved to obtain the protection status for our water sources they have always deserved, which is a prerequisite for this locality to receive adequate protection and care. Apart from that, by the end of the year we will finalize and put into operation two more facilities for potable water treatment, thereby our city will be fully ready to provide completely safe potable water, even at times of significantly greater pollution than the current one. All these measures and activities taken by the current City Administration will provide Novi Sad sufficient quantities of potable water, fulfilling at the same time all European standards for waste water treatment. World Water Day certainly is a great occasion to remind ourselves of all this. – said Assistant Božić. 

In Novi Sad, March 22^nd 2015