Romania has a third of Europe’s thermal and mineral waters, and one of the most important reservoirs is located directly on land north of Bucharest and Ilfov County. The resource could turn the north of the capital into a real resort and, in theory, could help settlements solve heating problems.

Currently, however, neither Ilfov nor Bucharest are making any moves in this direction, beyond a few old plans on paper. Only the “Agrippa Ionescu” SRI hospital, Balotești wing, uses geothermal resources for heating, while an Austrian company built Therme, one of the largest “spa” complexes in this part of Europe, using the geothermal waters of the region.

What thermal resources are there in the basement of the Capital

Thermal waters in the north of the capital have been known since the 80s, when the first drilling was carried out. There was even a beach behind the Free Press House, inside the headquarters of Foradex, a state-owned company that developed thermal waters. Meanwhile, the beach was abandoned when the company went bankrupt.

In 2009, the then Minister of Tourism, Elena Udrea, said that Bucharest is located on a thermal water source that is not being exploited, so the capital could be turned into a real destination for spa tourism. From then until today, the only thing that has materialized is that in early 2016, Therme opened, one of the largest “wellness” centers in Europe.

The geothermal reservoir in the north of the capital and in the Ilfov county is very generous, even compared to the reservoir in Bihor or the Olt valley. Its defined area is 300 square kilometers and the temperature increases the further north you go, from 58 to 84 degrees Celsius. Of the 24 wells drilled in this basin, 18 of them produce geothermal water, and their flow rate is between 22 and 35 liters per second.

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