Pipelife Supplies Water Level Control System for a Protected Area on the Black Sea Coast

As a unique wetland area, the nature conservation site Poda in southeast Bulgaria shelters hundreds of rare species. When a dysfunctional drainage channel put one of Poda's main water bodies in danger, Pipelife Bulgaria's expertise in infrastructure solutions helped restore the lake's water regime, preventing its desalinization and excessive flooding. 

_{A Cradle of Biodiversity}

Declared a protected area in 1989, Poda is known for its vibrant habitats — housing hundreds of species of plants, birds, fish, amphibians, reptiles, and mammals within a territory of just one square kilometer. In 2003, Poda was listed as a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention and included in the UN-Habitat program for implementing the best practices for habitat conservation.  

To date, 265 species of birds have been observed in Poda, including a unique colony of spoonbills, ibises, and herons, making the area one of the richest ornithological sites in Europe. The unusual biological diversity can be attributed to the three different types of water habitats found in Poda, containing fresh, saline and brackish water.  

_{Aged Drainage Infrastructure Threatens a Rare Brackish Lake} 

While Poda attracts nature-loving tourists year-round, the site's infrastructure has seen minimal improvements since its establishment. A large-scale project is now underway to rehabilitate the aged structures and preserve Poda's unique habitats. The first project stage involved replacing an outdated drainage channel in the Ramsar site Vaya Lake.  

Set up in the late 1980s, the canal connects the lake to the Black Sea but hadn't been functioning properly for decades. Due to the build-up of land and silt in the channel over the years, Vaya Lake had a disturbed hydraulic regime, leading to desalination of its water, flooding of the coastal areas, and altering the lake's unique ecosystem. 

Sterion Kostov from Vodokanal Kostovi, overseeing the construction, explains: 

"The existence of the channel could be only discerned through satellite images, as it was fully overgrown with dense vegetation. At the time [of construction], the canal was either not fully completed or was quickly clogged and ceased to function. As a result, it did not regulate water levels and, during heavy rains, created more issues than solutions." 

_{Sustainable Infrastructure Solution Improves Habitat Conditions}  

As a longstanding partner of Vodokanal Kostovi, Pipelife Bulgaria was contracted to supply sewage pipes for the reconstruction of the drainage channel, which was completed in December 2023. 

A corrugated PE pipe system produced from recycled PE was selected as the best solution due to the system's environmental benefits and application versatility.  

Using recycled PE allows for producing products with a much lower environmental footprint compared to alternatives from virgin material, making these pipes an excellent choice for applications with lighter loads, including field drainage. 

_{Preserving Wetlands for Next Generations}   

The rehabilitation project has fully restored the capacity of the Vaya-Black Sea channel, reducing the hydraulic pressure on the brackish lake, which was crucial for improving the lake's water regime. 

The initiative, managed by the Regional Directorate for Environment and Water - Burgas, was fully funded by the Operational Programme Environment 2014-2020. The project's continuous goal is to improve the conservation status of species and habitats in the wetlands of international importance.