The Vardar in Veles Isn't Even Fit for Swimming: Nitrites, Class Five for Ammonia and Traces of Untreated Sewage

The Vardar where it enters Veles, at Bashino Selo, and where it leaves, at Dolni Dukjani, is not safe for swimming or recreation. That is the conclusion experts at the Veles Public Health Centre reached after analysing samples taken on 17 September, with the results published by the Municipality of Veles.

Nitrites were recorded at both measuring points, which, according to the analysis, indicates both old and fresh faecal pollution. For bacterial contamination, the water is in class three. For turbidity and ammonia it is in class five - the worst - and for phosphates in class four.

The phosphates are the clue to where the problem comes from. According to the expert analysis, they point to untreated sewage, to wastewater from households using phosphate detergents, and to effluent from factories and processing plants. In other words, the Vardar running through Veles carries whatever the town and its industry dump into it.

There is "good" news too, if you can call it that: for bacterial contamination the river is now in class three, whereas a decade or so ago it was in class five. The Topolka and Babuna rivers are in class three for bacteria and turbidity, with no nitrites or phosphates, but they are not recommended for swimming either.

The tests tell us the classes. What they don't tell us is when the water ending up in the Vardar will start getting treated before it reaches the river. Who is responsible for that - the municipality, the state, or nobody?