The project „The Development of the Water and Wastewater Infrastructure in Suceava County during the 2014 - 2020 period” is the latest in a series of investment programmes ACET S.A. Suceava has implemented in its area of operation ever since Romania’s pre-accession to the European Union, with the help of non-reimbursable financial assistance granted by the European Union and the Romanian Government.

Launched in 2019, this is also the largest project of investments in the water and wastewater infrastructure in Suceava County in the past 30 years, given the amount and complexity of the works proposed as well as the implementation area of the project, as shown below.

The project is co-funded by the European Union from the Cohesion Fund, through the Large Infrastructure Operational Programme 2014 - 2020 (phase I), and from the European Regional Development Fund, through the Sustainable Development Programme 2021 - 2027 (phase II).

ACET S.A. Suceava is the beneficiary of the project funding as well as the authority responsible for implementation of the project.

The overall objective of the project: upgrading the water and wastewater infrastructure in the localities of the Suceava County which are part of the project, in order to bring it into compliance with the requirements laid down in the Treaty of Romania’s Accession to the European Union and the European Directives in the water/wastewater sectors, namely the Directive 98/83/EC on the quality of water intended for human consumption, and the Directive 91/271/CEE concerning urban wastewater collection and treatment.

The specific objectives of the project:

  •  For the water systems:
  • - improving the quality of supplied drinking water;
  • - increasing the rate of household connection to public water supply networks;
  • - improving the running capacity of the operating equipment and treatment plants by upgrading or replacing them;
  • - reducing water leakage and improving the water loss detection system;
  •  For the sewerage and wastewater treatment systems:
  • - increasing the rate of household connection to public sewerage networks;
  • - increasing the level of wastewater collection and treatment;
  • - improving the sludge management capacities;
  • - improving the quality of the effluent and reducing the risks associated with underground and surface water pollution.

Expected results of the project:

  • - the quality improvement and sustainable development of the public water supply and sewerage services;
  • - strengthening ACET S.A.’s capacity to run and monitor the operation of the water and wastewater infrastructure, inclusively by upgrading the existing GIS and SCADA systems;
  • - increasing the safety in operating the systems integrated in the water and wastewater collection/treatment infrastructure.

Project budget:

The total eligible budget of the project is Lei 1,316,922,589, out of which:
- the total eligible budget for phase I of the project is lei 70,819,573.46;
- the total eligible budget for phase II of the project is lei 1,246,103,015.54 lei.

The funds needed to carry out the investments included in the project are allocated from the financing sources:

Phase I of the project:
- The European Union (EU) Cohesion Fund: Lei 56,584,839.19;
- The Romanian State Budget: Lei 8,654,151.87;
- The budgets of the local authorities involved in the project: Lei 1,331,407.99;
- ACET S.A. budget: Lei 4,249,174.41.

Phase II of the project:
- The European Regional Development Fund: Lei 995,636,309.43;
- The Romanian State Budget: Lei 152,273,788.50;
- The budgets of the local authorities involved in the project: Lei 23,426,736.68;
- ACET S.A. budget: 74,766,180.93.

The project implementation area:

The proposed investment works are to be carried out in the following localities in Suceava County: Suceava, Fălticeni, Câmpulung Moldovenesc, Rădăuți, Vatra Dornei, Dolhasca, Salcea, Siret, Vicovu de Sus, Marginea, Mitocu Dragomirnei, Putna, Sucevița and Șcheia.

The project investments:

I. Works in the water supply systems, namely:

  • - 3 new wellfields along with the rehabilitation of 5 existing wellfields;
  • - 3 new water treatment plants as well as the rehabilitation of 3 existing plants;
  • - 8.3 km of new transmission mains and the rehabilitation of 29.4 km of existing mains;
  • - 5 new water storage reservoirs along with the rehabilitation of 13 existing reservoirs, each reservoir equipped with automation and SCADA systems;
  • - 22 new water pumping stations and the rehabilitation of 4 existing stations;
  • - 295.4 km of new water distribution networks and the rehabilitation of 18.9 km of existing networks.

II. Works in the wastewater collection and treatment systems, namely:

  • - 4 new waste water treatment plants along with the rehabilitation of 3 existing WWTPs;
  • - 321 km of new sewerage networks as well as the rehabilitation of 4.6 km of existing networks;
  • - 107 new wastewater pumping stations connected to 40.3 km of discharge pipes, each station equipped with automation and SCADA systems.

III. Procurement of operating equipment to be used by the water company ACET S.A., namely:

  • - Regional Integrated SCADA system for the entire water and wastewater infrastructure, intended to control the system operation by monitoring the parameters, the pollution incidents, the quality of the drinking water, the influent / effluent;
  • - water loss detection units (2 pcs.);
  • - mobile CCTV units for the video inspection of pipes (2 pcs.);
  • - laboratory equipment for drinking water physical and chemical analysis (7 pcs.);
  • - sludge disposal units (3 pcs.);
  • - sludge loading units (5 pcs.);
  • - mobile sewer dredging and cleaning units (10 pcs.);
  • - mobile units for the disposal of solid waste resulted from the sewer pumping stations (7pcs.).

IV. Support services for ACET S.A. Suceava:

  • - technical assistance for the project management and the supervision of construction works;
  • - updating the Suceava County Water and Wastewater Master Plan;
  • - technical support for improving the water loss and infiltration reduction systems;
  • - technical support for upgrading the GIS system;
  • - training provided to the members of the Project Implementation Unit;
  • - project promotion services;
  • - project audit services;
  • - procurement of equipment for ACET Project Implementation Unit.

The project encompasses the following contracts:

- 30 works contracts

- 9 equipment supply contracts

- 3 service contracts

The project’s first implementation phase ended on December 31 st, 2023.
The completion date for the project’s second implementation phase is set for December 2029.