The State Hydrometeorological Authority issued an orange code on 23 October for the Prut on the Costești–Brânza stretch, which runs through Ungheni: on 24–30 October, the flow will be 20-30% of the long-term monthly average. In August, on the same stretch, it was 25-35%. The Authority writes that the rain will not significantly change the situation.
The 2025 management report of Ungheni's water utility shows two trends moving in opposite directions. Unplanned failures on the distribution network fell from 270 to 256, and the average duration of an interruption dropped from 7.16 to 5.68 hours — nearly an hour and a half less. Dispatch calls reporting water outages collapsed: 263, down from 2,258 the previous year. At the same time, water losses rose from 21.2% to 26.3% of the volume abstracted. The utility abstracted 72,500 more cubic meters, sold 27,000 fewer, and the difference — roughly 100,000 cubic meters — was lost in transit. The operator attributes the increase in losses to the ongoing European-funded works at the treatment plant and the mains along Oranjeriei Street.
The Meteorology Authority has issued an orange code for the Ungheni–Brânza section of the Prut River, where flow has dropped to 25–30% of the long-term average. Upstream, on the Costești–Ungheni section, a yellow code is in effect (30%). On August 26, the Government extended the hydrological alert by 30 days.
A leak on a water main 500 millimetres in diameter at 8 Vasile Lupu Street was announced on Thursday for a seven-hour intervention, between 09:00 and 16:00. On Friday, the operator said the works were continuing, “as unforeseen technical complications arose during the intervention”, with a new deadline estimated at 17:00. The list of affected consumers on the second day also includes Ungheni District Hospital, which did not appear on the first one. In 2024, the operator reported 270 unplanned interruptions, 268 of which were resolved within the regulatory deadline.
Dozens of Ungheni residents wrote, under the news of the price hike, that the town supposedly has the most expensive water in Moldova. The tariffs approved by ANRE show the opposite: at 40.01 lei/m³, only seven towns charge less, while at least nineteen — from Cantemir to Glodeni — charge more, some nearly double. The difference comes from the number of consumers and the water source: Ungheni draws it, treated, from the Prut, while towns like Rîșcani pump it cheaply from artesian wells. And the sense that we pay the most comes from something else — the tariff has just risen, eleven days after we were promised it would stay unchanged.
On Tuesday, 7 July, the ANRE board approved new tariffs for "Apă-Canal Ungheni" SRL: drinking water rises from 23.54 to 25.17 lei/m³, and sewerage for household consumers from 14.71 to 14.84 lei/m³ — 40.01 lei/m³ in total, 1.76 lei more (+4.6%). The increase comes eleven days after the Ungheni Municipal Council announced the tariff would stay at 38.25 lei and that the operator had "dropped" an increase. The ANRE document shows, however, that the operator's tariff file was still under review — the agency cut it, rather than rejecting it.
The Cornești town hall says it has completed the extension of the water and sewerage network on Ștefan cel Mare Street — work that included running the pipes under the R1 Chișinău–Ungheni national road, at kilometre 77+215, by drilling without opening a trench or closing the highway. The town's network was built through the “Satul European” programme, and centralised sewerage — which Cornești has — remains the rare part of Moldova's infrastructure.
At the peak of the heatwave, Sculeni commune’s City Hall and the “Servicom Sculeni” utility have put water on a ration. From Tuesday, 30 June, the village was split into four sectors, each getting water for only three hours a day, between 9.00 and 18.00. The reason, the authority says: huge consumption for watering gardens and irresponsible use of the network, which collapsed the pressure. Water trouble in Sculeni is not new — the council passed decisions on it in both 2024 and 2025.
On 26 June, the Ungheni Municipal Council adopted an official position backing the maintenance of current tariffs for water, sewerage and wastewater treatment charged by "Apă-Canal Ungheni" SRL — 38.25 lei per cubic metre. The operator, wholly owned by the municipality, had first filed calculations with ANRE for a 4.52-lei/m³ increase (almost 12%), then opted to keep the price. The decision does not freeze the tariffs on its own, however: the price of water in Ungheni is approved by ANRE, and the councillors' position will be forwarded to the agency.
