Accidents Inevitable for Such Old Systems: Sargsyan on Sewage System Issues

The water system is old, and "Veolia Water" performs only minor repairs annually across the vast network. Suppose you have an 11,000-kilometer system and replace 200 kilometers of pipelines each year. This is a very small figure, and large investments will require significant financial resources.

This was stated by Kamo Sargsyan during today’s parliamentary session, in the context of the discussions held for the selection of a member of the Public Services Regulatory Commission, responding to MP Garnik Danielyan's remarks regarding water outages in rural areas, which leave citizens without even basic hygiene conditions.

Commenting on the water outages, Kamo Sargsyan noted that the system is working under extreme load. High pressures occur especially during the summer months, causing the system to operate under overload, reducing water flow and increasing mechanical water production.

“Accidents are inevitable for such old systems. As for why the system is old, we all know. No one can be blamed for that,” he said.

Regarding the problems with the sewage system, Kamo Sargsyan highlighted that there are numerous issues, especially in the capital. Even the Yerevan Municipality has taken on the task of renovating and replacing sewage systems.

“In Yerevan, there are numerous cases where the sewage line is not connected to the sewage system but to the storm drain, which it has no right to. When you dig into the underground system, certain things are revealed and become unclear,” he noted, adding that there are many problems that need solutions.

In this context, MP Garnik Danielyan expressed concern that the system may one day face a collapse, asking what should be done to avoid this. Kamo Sargsyan responded, “The state is continually carrying out work. Moreover, only for the 2025-2026 period, 10.7 billion drams are planned for work, and work for 2026-2027 will also be of the same amount.”

He also reminded that the last main pipeline entered Yerevan in 1980, and its capacity cannot provide for the water volumes necessary for the population at that time as well as today.

“In addition, there is already almost a 20% shortage of water in self-flowing springs,” he said.