EYATH on water scarcity and the climate crisis

Water scarcity and water management projects in large urban centers were the main topic of the speech of the president of EYATH, Agi Papadopoulos, from the podium of the conference organized by the newspaper “Macedonia tis Kyriakis” and makthes.gr on the topic “Water: Source of life and precious resource in a climate change- environment”.

“As this year is coming to an end, it has brought the problem of rational water resource management back to the forefront in a very intense way. A problem that the truth is that for the last many years we had pushed it to the last scale of our priorities”, Mr. Papadopoulos pointed out. “The older ones among us remember the water shortage problems caused by the prolonged drought period in the early 1990s, which led to the need to take dynamic water conservation measures. Since then, a lot of water has flowed into Aliakmonas river. The truth is that in the intervening 30 years, several important projects have been carried out in the field of water management, mainly in large urban centers, which have allowed us not to have significant problems for many years. At the same time, however, the conditions of both water availability and demand for it have also changed significantly,” noted the president of EYATH.

In the panel on “Drinking water: adequacy, quality, importance for health and quality of life”, Anthimos Amanatidis, CEO of EYATH, noted that EYATH interacts with water at various stages, from extraction and consumption to disposal, also noting that “it conducts regular water quality checks from water supply sources to its distribution to consumers. The checks include microbiological, chemical and physical analyses, ensuring that the water supplied meets all required quality standards”.

“EYATH is currently implementing an investment plan with ongoing projects worthing 150 million euros, while projects of 50 million euros worth are in the planning phase, for a company that provides water services through an extensive water distribution network of 2,753 km. and sewage services through a 2,157.63 km sewage network,” he added. As Mr. Amanatidis said, referring to the effluents of the “large” biological treatment plant in Thessaloniki, there must be a legislative initiative to facilitate the reuse of water as a necessary means of saving in the midst of a climate crisis.

The conference at the Thessaloniki City Hall discussed issues such as the role of water in human well-being and the risks that threaten it as a consequence of environmental pollution and climate change, and its value as a resource for development, both national and regional.