Supplying Sewage Purification Equipment to Floating Hotels in Volga River
Grant MSGP-RU02-04

One of the important economic activities in the Astrakhan region is ecotourism. The beautiful landscape of the Volga River is a major tourist attraction and floating in a boat along the Volga for few days has a strong appeal to nature lovers. Fortunately, there are more than 25 floating hotels in the Volga delta providing such services to the tourists, but they are not properly equipped with sewage purification systems. So either they will pollute the river or have to deliver the wastes to special sewage collection boats. The usage of sewage collection boats is problematic at times due to the water level changes, which makes it difficult for the boats to approach the floating hotels. Also, there are not enough specialized companies possessing ships in the Volga for sewage collection and the irregularity of sewage production of floating hotels, makes it almost impossible to perform well-planned collection of sewage. Moreover, due to the possibility of sewage overflow from the tanks, it is highly possible to have discharge of sewage into the Volga. Sometimes the accidental discharge of sewage reaches 40,000 cubic meters per year.

The objective of this project is to supply four floating hotels located in the Volga river delta with the equipment for the sewage purification. So, it was essential to select the appropriate equipment and coordinate their installation with the state authorities for certification and future monitoring and inspection. The best methods and technologies were selected in order to safely collect and environmentally recycle the wastes. The equipment was approved by the state authorities and is currently being operated in the four floating hotels. The results of the project have been widely publicized and some of the other floating hotels in Volga delta have shown their interest in installing such equipment.

Project Budget: 48,700 USD  Total Grant: 19,800 USD