It's impossible to prevent floods caused by rains in Chisinau, water supplier says

The garbage amassed inside rainwater drains in the city is responsible for periodic foods and runoffs. During the recent holidays, there were recorded more than 270 accidents in the water supply system and 118 in the sewer system, Info-Prim Neo reports. The worst situation was registered in the suburban town of Durlesti, where a great part of the drain and sewer pipes got clogged up, sparking a rush of complaints from people. According to Ion Burdila, economic manager of the city's water supplier Apa-Canal Chisinau (ACC), the plumbing in Durlesti is very old and in dire need of restoration. Burdila has said the piping in the suburban town is periodically repaired, but this is not enough to completely redress the situation. “A project is now being prepared to improve things there”, he assured. Burdila has told a City Hall meeting on Monday that there are no solutions at present for preventing floods in rainy days. “Manholes are filled with mud and garbage of all sorts, bottles and plastic bags. Since these drains are stretching beneath entire streets, we need to remove the pavement in order to clean them, which is very costly, and we don't even have the necessary equipment. The only solution I see is to look for serious investments of millions of euros” said Burdila. At a previous City Hall meeting it was said that the renovation of the ACC wastewater treatment station alone would cost some 75 million euros. Still, nothing can be done to restore this facility as long as the water & sewer rates don't even cover expenses. This means ACC has two ways: whether the City Council adopts new rates that would comprise the costs of the repairs or the company creates a public-private partnership.