PRESENT SITUATION AND ALTERNATIVE WATER SUPPLY SOLUTIONS FOR NORTHERN VOJVODINA (SERBIA)

The northern part of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is situated in the central and southeastern sectors of the Pannonian Basin. Drinking water supply is provided by groundwater abstraction from depths of 60 to 200 m. The quality of that water is poor, especially due to high concentrations of arsenic which most water supply systems do not remove. Current planning documents call for the construction of large regional water supply schemes on the banks of the Danube and Tisa rivers, aimed at improving the quality and ensuring sufficient quantities of water. The proposed concepts are 20 years old and based on unrealistic water consumption levels, compared to current EU water-related legislation. The paper reviews these strategic solutions and high-lights the importance of the current demographic situation, characterized by population migration over the past ten years. The population drain, especially pronounced in the border zones, requires new water supply concepts and more efficient solutions, whose primary objective should be to improve drinking water quality as set forth in the EU Water Framework Directive. One such solution is discussed in the paper.