Attraction
Paltinu Reservoir
Lake Paltinu is the reservoir formed by the Paltinu Dam on the Doftana river, in Valea Doftanei commune, Prahova County. The dam, a 108 m high double-curvature concrete arch, was built between 1966 and 1971 and mainly supplies drinking and industrial water to Câmpina and Ploiești.
The Paltinu reservoir lies in the valley of the Doftana river, in Valea Doftanei commune, Prahova County. The dam that forms it was built downstream of the confluence of the Doftana with the Păltinoasa valley, in the gorge known as „La Tocile”, where the valley has a markedly asymmetric profile, with a terrace about 100 m wide on the left bank. The bedrock is sandstone with layers of marly and clayey shale, crossed by faults and fissures.
Because of the difficult ground, engineers chose a double-curvature concrete arch dam set on an extended foundation plinth on the left bank with a parabolic wing. The dam is 108 m high above its foundation, with the crest at 654 m and a crest length of 455 m. Work began in 1966 and the dam entered service in 1971. During the first filling, seepage of more than 150 litres per second appeared under the plinth, which required extending the grout curtain and drainage and anchoring the left slope with prestressed cables; a second phase of consolidation took place in 1976-1982. Floods are discharged through a morning-glory spillway, and a 10 MW hydropower plant with two Francis turbines operates at the foot of the dam.
The reservoir mainly supplies drinking and industrial water to the cities of Câmpina and Ploiești and, secondarily, irrigation water for about 9,000 hectares in the Prahova floodplain between Băicoi and Ploiești. It is part of a water management system that also includes the Voila dam and treatment plant, the Voila-Ploiești pipeline and the Băicoi-Ploiești canal.
On 30 November 2025, after heavy rain, very high turbidity in the reservoir, whose level was already low because of work on the bottom outlet, led to the water supply being cut in the localities served by the Voila plant: Câmpina, Cornu, Breaza, Bănești, Poiana Câmpina, Șotrile, Telega and Valea Doftanei. In December 2025 the National Administration „Apele Române” stated that a major intervention at the dam is unavoidable in the medium term, including bringing the bottom outlet equipment back into service.
Valea Doftanei, județul Prahova