Croatia Water and Wastewater

Croatia, supported by the European Union funds, will invest around $2.6 billion in construction and development of water and wastewater systems in Croatia in the next three to five years. There are sixty projects ready for implementation, mainly of wastewater systems, with additional ones being in the planning phase. Some of the cities with prepared projects are Split, Osijek, Rijeka, and Zadar. The project’s main lead is the public water management entity Hrvatske vode (Croatian Waters), while local municipal water and wastewater companies are leading individual projects in their geographical areas. There is a lack of qualified local contractors and equipment suppliers in this industry segment, so the project implementation will strongly rely on imports. U.S. companies will be welcome to compete.
 
Most Croatian citizens have access to the public water system, with 84% connected. There are 589 water wells in the system. Access to the public wastewater system is significantly lower, around 47%, and therefore the focus of the current investment cycle is the expansion of the wastewater systems. There are 144 wastewater purification systems with a total capacity of 4.04 million Population Equivalent (PE). Croatia is rich in water resources, and the average price of water for citizens is $2.45 per cubic meter. However, the water loss in the system is around 50%, and it is an ongoing issue caused by old and low-quality pipes. Another threatening water-issue are floods, occurring more often in Croatia than ever before. The prepared projects address those issues and usually include installation of wastewater pipes, repair or replacement of old water pipes, construction of water pump stations and wastewater purification systems, and integration of remote-control systems.

In order to manage all environmental risks, the Croatian Waters is leading the $27 million-worth project Multisensor Aerial Survey of the Republic of Croatia for Assessing Disaster Risk Reduction. 
 
If your company can provide construction and development of water and wastewater systems, water pumping stations or wastewater purification, or control systems, and you would like to expand to Croatia, please contact Office.Zagreb@Trade.gov for more information and assistance in entering the market.