Infrastruktura - Środowisko - Energia
Dodatek lobbingowy do "RZECZPOSPOLITEJ".
20 listopada 2007 r.

po polsku

This project, co-financed by the European Union, contributes to decreasing social and economic differences between citizens of the Union

Table water in Warsaw taps

Very soon table quality water will flow from taps in Warsaw

Warsaw will soon be one of the few cities whose inhabitants will enjoy tap water of quality comparable with table water. The Warsaw Municipal Water Supply and Sewage Company (Miejskie Przedsiębiorstwo Wodociągów i Kanalizacji w m.st. Warszawie S.A. or MPWiK), with the financial support of European Union funds, is conducting projects aimed at improving the city's tap water. The estimated total value of these projects is 160 mln euro.

The Warsaw Municipal Water Supply and Sewage Company has been supplying water to the homes of Warsaw's inhabitants for over 120 years. Every day the Company supplies approximately 390 thousand cubic meters of water to private homes, institutions, and companies. The goal of the Project titled "Water supply and sewage treatment" is to build an effective system to collect and treat sewage in the southern districts of Warsaw and to improve both the reliability of supplies and the quality of water supplied to Warsaw's homes. The planned projects will allow the company to meet the legal requirements concerning surface water and drinking water quality standards.

The 1st Phase of the project has been completed. The key element of this phase is a colector in the Southern Sewage Treatment Facility. Thanks to its completion in July 2006, over 50% of sewage from Warsaw is now treated before it is released into the Vistula river. While some elements of the project are being completed, contracts are being concluded for the preparation and performance of further elements related to treatment of sewage that have been planned as a part of the 3rd Phase.

Several other key projects aimed at improving the quality of tap water in Warsaw are scheduled to be completed before 2010. Two out of three water distribution facilities are included in the plan to upgrade the water treatment technology: the Central Water Distribution Facility and the North Water Distribution Facility. To support future technology upgrades, research has been conducted for several years in the conditions of model water treatment stations in order to verify how the new processes will improve water quality.

By including intermediate ozoning and coal filters in the technological process used in Filtry (this is the nickname of the Central Water Distribution Center), the amount of chlorine dioxide used to disinfect water will be cut in half. At the same time, infiltration sources under the Vistula river bed will be the basic source of water after the technology upgrade. What is also important is to meet the expectations of customers. The upgrade of technology in the Filtry station is an expensive project (approximately 60 million euro), but it will improve the taste and the smell of water and, more importantly, will assure a consistent high quality of water. The direct effects of the upgrade will be appreciated by over a half of Warsaw's inhabitants as well as by inhabitants of Pruszków and Piastów.

The North Water Distribution Utility has the newest water treatment station in Warsaw. The construction of a facility so distant from the city was supposed to assure a water source alternative to the Vistula river, that is the Zegrzyńskie Lake. To meet the more and more stringent standards and the increasing expectations of customers, the current processing line will be expanded by adding the process of pressure floatation. Thanks to the 11 years of research on utility of pressure floatation for water treatment, one can rest assured that the technology upgrade will optimize the necessary doze of ozone and will effectively use the carbon deposits. Consequently, water treated in the station will be of consistently high quality, regardless of the quality of water coming from the lake.

The total length of Warsaw's water supply pipeline is over 3 thousand kilometers. To assure reliable supply and the highest possible quality of water provided to the customers, the pipeline has been constantly upgraded and renovated since its construction. The 2nd Phase of the Project, to be co-financed by the European Union, includes the construction, renovation, or replacement of approximately 157 kilometers of main pipelines and of the distribution network. According to the Multi-year Investment Plan, the Company will build a total of 220 km of new water pipelines.

Simultaneously, besides actions aimed at enlarging the access of Warsaw's inhabitants to the water pipelines and at upgrading water treatment technologies, the Company is implementing a water pipeline computer monitoring system.

The above-mentioned activities are a huge tasks from a technical, organizational, financial, and social standpoint.

www.mpwik.com.pl
More information on the project can be found atwww.jrp.mpwik.com.pl n