23 March 2016

No drinking water deficit in Belarus in foreseeable future

Belarus will not suffer from a shortage of potable water in foreseeable future, said Olga Vasneva, the head of the hydrogeology and groundwater monitoring department at the national geology research center, at a press conference to mark the upcoming International World Water Day, BelTA has learned.

"Belarus has great amounts of drinking water. We will not suffer from a deficit, as rains replenish our water stocks," Olga Vasneva noted.

She said that Belarus has a large database on groundwater, and also a state inventory of water resources. "Having analyzed a vast amount of data, we can state that the country's water stocks have never been in a downtrend," Olga Vasneva added.

Belarusian Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Igor Kachanovsky emphasized that shortage of potable water is a fairly acute problem in the contemporary world. "Last year [United Nations Secretary-General] Ban Ki-moon warned that by 2030, water scarcity will become a global concern. It is most likely that water will cost more than oil," the official stressed.

Igor Kachanovsky said that the water production rate in Belarus has decreased by 20% since 1993. Besides, there is a steady decline in daily per capita water consumption from 214 to 137 liters and in industrial water use.

BELARUSIAN NEWS