18/09/2023

Arrangement of Three Artesian Fountains Will Begin Soon

Through the joint engagement of the Association “Za Drinking Fountains”, the City of Zaječar and the “Heineken” company, Zaječar will soon get three more arranged artesian fountains, and one of them is the “Two Brothers” fountain, which is among the oldest in the city. One of the goals of the project “Environmental response in Timočka Krajina” implemented by the Association “Za Drinking Fountains” with partner organizations from Bor and Zaječar, and funded by the EU, is the protection of artesian water and foutnains in Zaječar.

Zaječar is one of the richest cities with natural, spring water, not only in Serbia but perhaps in the world. 100 or more years ago, the inhabitants of this city built artesian fountains not only for their own needs, but also for the citizens, so today more than 30 fountains are
active in the city with quality artesian water for drinking. Until a few years ago, no one took special care about the fountains, and when it happened that several of them in the city center dried up thanks to the arrogance of a private investor, the people of Zaječar gathered around the Association “Za Drinking Fountains” managed to defend them and launched an initiative with the local administration that artesian fountains become a protected public natural goods. Fountains and wells are a century old and most of them need serious reconstruction. The care of the well constructions was entrusted by the Decision of the Zaječar City Assembly to the Public Utility Company “Vodovod” in Zaječar,
while the Association “Za Drinking Fountains”, with the donation of the Company Heineken Serbia, will perform the reconstruction of the above-ground parts of the fountains and the arrangement of the immediate surroundings of the fountains.

The “Two Brothers” fountain has been running out of water for several years now, and in order to find out the reason, it was necessary to find the well and determine the condition of its construction, which was explained by Nikola Šarčević, the Technical Director of the Public Utility Company “Vodovod” in Zaječar.

After the completion of the works on the fountain, the current appearance of the “Two Brothers” fountain itself will be changed. The devastated above-ground part of the fountain will be removed, instead a replica of the old iron fountains like the one at the “Zelengora” fountain will be installed. The surroundings of the fountain will also be arranged so that the residents of this part of the city can continue to drink artesian water and to socialize in a more beautiful environment.

Association “Za Drinking Fountains”

This text was produced within the project “Environmental response to mining expansion in Timočka Krajina” funded by the European Union, and implemented by the Association “Za Drinking Fountains”, the Association of Young Researchers Bor, Civic Library “Europe” Bor and Children’s Center Zaječar. The content of the text is entirely responsibility of these associations and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.