Poland's Desalination Plan Aims to Revive Oder River’s Ecosystem

The Polish climate ministry, along with mining companies, is planning to build desalination installations to address water salinity in the Oder River. This initiative follows a mass fish die-off in 2022 attributed to toxic golden algae flourishing in salty waters from coal mine discharges. Funding remains a challenge.

The Polish climate ministry and mining companies are devising a plan to construct desalination installations aimed at enhancing water quality in the Oder River. This measure seeks to prevent another mass fish die-off, similar to the incident in the summer of 2022, when hundreds of tons of dead fish were found in the river along Poland and Germany's border.

Despite Warsaw's claims of doing everything possible at the time, environmentalists and the Polish Supreme Audit Office later criticized the response for being too slow. Scientists pinpointed water salinity in the Oder's tributaries, which receive saline discharges from coal mines, as the primary cause of the disaster. "We cooperate with mining companies, who unfortunately can't stop dumping saline water immediately without shutting down operations," Deputy Climate Minister Urszula Zielinska stated. However, she assured that investment plans for desalination installations will be ready by September's end.

Zielinska acknowledged the substantial financial challenge, citing costs between 1.2 billion zlotys ($303.57 million) and 1.5 billion zlotys for a single installation. This expense aligns with broader efforts to transform Poland's mining industry, which is facing rising production costs and dwindling demand. Among the companies discharging saline water into the Oder are state-owned coal producer Polska Grupa Gornicza, copper miner KGHM, and coking coal producer JSW.

(With inputs from agencies.)