Sampling campaign in Bulgaria

Bulgarian sampling sites

In total 4 river sampling sites and 3 effluents from WWTP are the objectives of Tethys Project monitoring campaign in Bulgaria. All of the samples are measured for HM, PFAS and pharmaceuticals. The river sites are located on the downstream of 4 big rivers in the northern part of Bulgaria, i.e. Danube valley. The points are chosen to be the same as the last gauging station for water quantities monitoring on the main body of the rivers, before they flow into Danube. For this reason, the results will be used for validation of MORE models. The WWTPs choice is based on their capacity and served population. One additional sampling site has been established from the Danube River, after the flood events in Central Europe in September, 2024. More information about the sites is given bellow:

Butan village, Ogosta river (43.6405, 23.7343), catchment area before the site: 2 969 km² – the total population in the catchment area is around 147 189 inhabitants (year 2023), with two big cities – Vratsa and Montana. The are is mostly rural, however there are few facilities for car batteries and metal processing.
Orehovitsa village, Iskar river (43.5878, 24.3589), catchment area before the site: 8 363 km² – the total population in the catchment area is around 1 531 326 inhabitants (year 2023). It includes the city of Sofia, which is the capital of Bulgaria and had various developed industries.
Karantsi village, Yantra river (43.3803, 25.6672), catchment area before the site: 6 860 km² – the total population in the catchment area is around 283 161 inhabitants (year 2023), and the biggest cities are Veliko Tarnovo and Gabrovo. Several facilities are located in the area, one of them is a big plastic packaging producer.
Bozichen village, Rusenski Lom river (43.7197, 25.9469), catchment area before the site: 2 895 km² – the total population in the catchment area is around 118 510 inhabitants (year 2023), with largest city – Razgrad (less then 30 000 inhabitants). The catchment is not industrialized, there is one relatively small pharmaceuticals facility.
WWTP Kubratovo, Sofia – Iskar river (42.7593, 23.3759), capacity: 1 833 333 PE
WWTP Veliko Tarnovo – Yantra river (43.1018, 25.6207), capacity: 165 625 PE
WWTP Montana – Ogosta river (43.4309, 23.2543), capacity: 98 618 PE
City of Ruse, Danube river (43.8605, 25.9545), catchment area before the site: 669 900 km² – one time high flow sampling during flood events.