site.btaUPDATED Seawater Samples Show No Deviation from Quality Standards, Says Caretaker Minister Petar Dimitrov

Samples taken from seawater on Friday showed no deviation from the quality standard for Black Sea waters, caretaker Environment Minister Petar Dimitrov said in the coastal village of Kranevo on Saturday. He visited the village on the occasion of an breakdown of a discharge collector - he explained that there was a failure of pipes that discharge purified water into the sea.

On Saturday, on the spot, employees of the Black Sea Basin Directorate (BSBD) and the Regional Inspectorate for Environment and Water - Varna took samples of the sea water.

Every year before the start of the [summer] season a similar thing is done in order to reassure people that the Bulgarian Black Sea coast is beautiful and the water quality is very good, the caretaker Minister said.

BSBD Director Yavor Dimitrov was also in Kranevo, as well as officials from the Regional Inspectorate for Environment and Water - Varna. 

Dimitrov said that according to dissolved oxygen, oxygen saturation, salinity and sea water temperature, the studies made on Saturday show that the results are slightly below the standards for good quality of the Black Sea waters. "This is due to the high temperature of the water, which leads to lower oxygen saturation," said the BSBD Director.

He added that a water check was carried out as early as June 4, when it was first signaled that there were problems with the collector of the Albena water treatment plant. The results show that the water quality is good. Further tests will be ran in the laboratory.