Water Means Life in Macedonia
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| A boy drinks from a fountain provided by USAID |
Before the Veles water supply project was implemented, the homes of
the town’s happy children were at times without water for days
at a time, and even when water was available it was usually insufficient
due to lack of water pressure in that hilly neighborhood.
This project involved the replacement of the original water supply
lines for a portion of the water supply system in Veles, which were
more than 70 years old and never before repaired. The pipes were replaced
with high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipes for a section of 590m in
the streets “Vladimir Nazor” and “Dimko Najdov”,
and an additional 952m in the adjacent streets of: “ 9th of November,” “Kiril
I Metodij,” “Braka Popjordanovi,” “Kliment
Ohridski” and Maxim Gorki.
Prior to this initiative, citizens living on these streets lacked
drinking water in their homes. The amount of non-drinkable running
water they did receive was minimal, and the supply, irregular. The
very old pipes leaked significantly. The shortage of water also presented
a health hazard, because the people couldn’t practice proper
personal hygiene. They also faced additional financial expenses because
their household appliances such as washing machines and water boilers
often broke down due to the lack of water. The community groups from
these areas made several appeals to the public enterprise “Derven” and
to the City Council to solve the water supply problems, but neither
of them had sufficient resources to perform the reconstruction of the
water pipelines.
CSHI coordinated with the community groups, the public enterprise “Derven” and
the local government in the planning and implementation of the replacement
of the pipes. The public enterprise “Derven”, who is responsible
for delivering drinking water to all the citizens of Veles, participated
in this project by providing for the removal of the asphalt from the
streets, the digging out the old pipes, and the installation of the
HDPE pipes that CSHI provided. The total value of their participation
was $34,000. The citizens themselves participated by digging the necessary
trenches in their own properties.
USAID through the CSHI Program was responsible for the purchase and
delivery of 1,537 meters of HDPE pipes, fittings and valves. The total
value of the USAID/CSHI Contribution was $44,109. The local construction
company “Izgrev” won the public tender to perform these
works: preparing the trenches for pipes, burying the pipes, constructing
the manholes, and repairing the street surface afterwards.
Thanks to the joint efforts of the citizens of the Veles Municipality,
the public enterprise “Derven” and USAID’s CSHI Program,
3650 residents now enjoy a more efficient water supply system; the
water loss has been overcome, they receive a sufficient and regular
daily supply of water in their homes, and their level of personal hygiene
has improved.
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