Thermo Power Plant “Kosovo B”– A Pollution Source for Sitnica River

Kosovo’s waters are unevenly distributed in time and space. Kosovo is water scarce, and it also has the low level of water resources development and storage. In particular Iber basin is water stressed, but in the next 20 years it is expected that all Kosovo’s basins will be water stressed [1]. This is due to population and general economic growth, and resource variability. The anticipated revitalization of the irrigation and mining sector and additional demands from the energy sector will increase pressure on new water demands [5]. For these reasons, the water quality of existing resources will become an ever-growing problem if not addressed now. The lignite-fired power plant “Kosovo B” is main the energy source in the country. The wastewater produced from its operation is discharged into Sitnica river with minimum treatment. With study of pollution level of wastewater discharges, this article sets several recommendations for treatment of wastewater in order that power plant meets national and EU operation requirements.