A high-tech water treatment plant is to be developed by the Bulgarian Ministry of Environment and Water Affairs in collaboration with experts from Baden-Württemberg in Germany. The plans include identifying a suitable location for the construction of the plant, how close it will be to a reservoir, deciding on the equipment required and the unit's operational capacity.

The German team who are coming to Bulgaria for the project are experts in water and waste management, according to Djevdet Chakurov, the Bulgarian Environment Minister, who has completed the negotiations in Stuttgart.

The minister has toured a German water treatment station which has been operating since 1916 and has been refurbished with the latest equipment in water and methane purification, recycling and energy production. The energy produced by station powers the nearby town and the rural area around it.

The station is privately owned and over 400 000 tons of waste is incinerated there annually. Its modern filtration and purification equipment ensures that no harmful emissions are released into the atmosphere.

The Environment Ministry hopes to use the same waste management programme across Bulgaria as that used by the German plant. The programme assures that no waste will be deposited before initial treatment. This ensures that the waste that can be recycled is separated from that being disposed of.

Chakurov and Tanja Gönner, Minister of the Environment of Baden-Württemberg, have agreed to meet for further discussions at a forum on November 26 and 27 in Sofia, where companies and experts from Baden-Württemberg will present waste and water management to representatives of Bulgarian municipalities.