Acceptance of applications for grants for water and sewerage infrastructure for private households starts on 16 January

Image: KIK

The EIC (Environmental Investment Centre) will open the acceptance of applications for grants for the construction of water and sewerage infrastructure for private persons on 16 January at 10. The budget for the call for applications is approximately 800 thousand euros.

The grant is intended for residents whose household is located in a wastewater collection area approved by the Minister of the Environment, but who are not connected to the public water supply or sewerage system for one reason or another. The aim of the grant is to ensure that people have access to safe drinking water and that wastewater is properly collected and treated.

The budget for grants for water infrastructure for private households is around 800 thousand euros. ‘Due to the budget of the call for applications, we can accept an estimated 300 applications this time. This is money freed up from other projects in the 2014-2020 period of EU structural funding, many of which have either been completed at a lower cost or have been left incomplete for whatever reason,’ says Kai Eisenberg, Head of the Biodiversity and Climate Protection Area at the EIC. She emphasises that in the new funding period, the European Union is unlikely to continue to support the development of water and sewerage infrastructure for private individuals; therefore, January will be the last chance to apply for this grant.

The grant is being allocated for the purpose of connecting a residential building located in a waste water collection area to the public water supply and/or sewerage system, or for the construction or reconstruction of a storage tank, and for the construction or conversion of a self-treatment plant for a residential building in a waste water collection area with less than 2000 consumers. The grant is paid on the basis of a standardised unit price, the amounts of which can be found on the EIC website.

It is possible to apply for the grant as long as funds are available in the budget and applicants must be able to cover their own contribution. Work may not start before a funding decision has been taken and planned activities must be completed within six months. Households that have paid for their connection between the two calls for applications will not be eligible for retroactive support.

The EIC draws the attention of applicants to the fact that it is obligatory to submit with the application, in the case of pipelines, valid connection conditions issued by the regional water company. In the case of septic tanks or on-site sewage treatment plants, confirmation from the water company or the local authority that the property is not connected to the public water supply and sewerage system and is not planned to be connected to the public water supply and sewerage system within five years according to the public water supply and sewerage system development plan.

More information about the grant is available on the EIC website. It is possible to apply through the E-support environment or the form available on the EIC website, made public when the call for applications opens. The form can be sent to the EIC by email ([email protected]) or by post (Narva mnt 7a, 15172, Tallinn). When submitting by post, please note that applications will be queued according to the time of registration with the EIC.

The previous call for applications for water infrastructure for private households ran from 2018 to 2021, and 17.37 million euros was distributed to people over three years. In Estonia, 9,300 people were provided with a proper water supply and 13,000 with a proper sewerage system.

The grant is provided from the Cohesion Fund measure ‘Development of Water Management Infrastructure’ for the EU structural support period 2014-2020. Water protection is supported by the Ministry of the Environment.