Restoring the Sava River to its former beauty Involvement by the people with a high awareness to conserve the environment Investigating the water quality at Sava River The Sava River, flowing near Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, used to be a beautiful river where citizens sought to relax and pursue recreational activities. However, water pollution problems in Zagreb and in the cities nearby have become serious in recent years. Their sewerage treatment systems were damaged by the civil war and raw sewerage and industrial wastewater are allowed to be dumped into the river. The quality of water is threatening the ecosystem as well as the health of people living in the Sava Basin. The 945 kilometers-long Sava River is also an international river that joins the river Danube, which flows into the Black Sea. Therefore, it is feared that this may affect a very wide area. With help from Japan, the Croatian government has initiated a water quality improvement program focused on developing sewerage treatment facilities in an effort to restore clean water to the Sava River to improve the lives of the people and to conserve nature. Japan conducted a development study from October 2000 to ascertain the conditions of the water in the Sava River and the status of sewerage treatment facilities.