According to figures from the State Statistical Office, in 2025 Macedonia treated only 20.6 percent of its wastewater. Out of a total 3.046 billion cubic metres of wastewater discharged, only 629 million cubic metres went through a treatment plant. The rest - 2.4 billion cubic metres - went straight into rivers, lakes or groundwater, with no treatment at all.

Who is the biggest polluter? The energy sector. It uses 99 percent of the total water consumed by businesses and discharges 3.021 billion cubic metres of wastewater. It treats just 624 million. That is not a statistical glitch - it is a systemic failure. Macedonia is building its energy supply on the back of the water we drink and grow food with.

The other sectors have their own numbers, but the picture is the same. Manufacturing treated just 2 million out of 14 million cubic metres of discharged wastewater. Agriculture and construction - zero treated. Only mining treated all of its 2 million cubic metres.

The global context is alarming. International institutions warn that water demand could outstrip supply by 40 percent by 2030. Water is shaping up to be the economic question of this century, with the kind of weight oil carried in the 20th. And while Macedonia is heading into that era with a 20 percent treatment rate, the question is no longer "whether" but "when" the water crisis hits.

The authorities who have been silent on this number for years have their reasons. Building treatment plants for the energy sector is a multi-million expense, and raising water and electricity tariffs is politically unpopular. But every year this number stays under 25 percent multiplies the future cost exponentially. That is an economic truth no budget project can postpone indefinitely. The days when Macedonia could afford 20.6 percent are already running out.