Istotne Informacje: Why did you undertake the modernization of the intake facility costing PLN 7.5 million?
Józef Król: Why did we undertake this project? To ensure that water supplies are completely safe, that water can be extracted more cheaply, and that water bills increase only minimally.
We have six water intakes, but only two are large enough to be of key importance: Rakowice and Modłowa. Our system is based on these two intakes, which provide almost 90% of the water. The Modłowa water treatment plant has already been modernized. We finished the work in 2013. Now it is Rakowice’s turn.
This is a strategic intake because of its location. The company’s history shows that KGHM investments in Iwiny and the surrounding area had a negative impact on water quality and caused its reserves to decline. Rakowice lies outside the zone of KGHM’s negative influence, and we know that the Kombinat intends to begin extracting copper ore in the area of the Warta commune. In this situation, we must think several, or even several dozen, years ahead about the security of water supplies. Fortunately, we have the Rakowice water treatment plant, which is independent of the Kombinat’s planned activities.
Istotne Informacje: Will residents feel this period when Rakowice is being modernized and therefore out of service?
Grzegorz Kozłowski: The Rakowice water treatment plant is out of operation, and in the area it served, the taps are supplied with water from Modłowa, which is harder. This is the only aspect of the modernization that residents can feel.
The possibility of freely shutting down one of the plants demonstrates the flexibility of our intakes. We manage perfectly well without one large plant. However, as it turned out during this shutdown, residents have their own preferences regarding the water they receive and are sensitive to its quality.
Put simply, Modłowa supplies hard water, while Rakowice supplies softer water. When both plants operate, the waters mix. Now that hard water from Modłowa is flowing from the taps, people complain about more limescale depositing on dishes and in kettles. They say they used to clean the kettle once a month, but now they have to do it once a week.
Istotne Informacje: Do the people of Bolesławiec dislike hard water?
Józef Król: It is probably a matter of insufficient information about what kind of water is healthy for the human body. It turns out that hard water, with its high content of calcium carbonate that is beneficial to us, is bad only for our kettles. It is therefore worth repeating after Professor Iwona Wawer that limescale is dangerous for a washing machine—as we know from advertisements—but its components are beneficial to human health. Studies of large populations have shown that residents of areas with hard water suffer fewer heart attacks. We need calcium and magnesium for the proper functioning of the heart and circulatory system, and water can be their source.
Istotne Informacje: It is said that the modernization of the Rakowice plant will affect water bills?
Józef Król: Rakowice is a rare example of a siphon water intake. Extracting water here is simple and inexpensive. If someone has ever drawn wine from a demijohn, they understand what a siphon intake means. The water only needs to be siphoned at start-up; after that, it flows at no cost. Naturally, this will affect our finances, which will have a positive impact, from the point of view of our customers, on water prices in subsequent tariffs.
We also obtained a loan for this investment from WFOŚiGW, 15% of which may be forgiven if we fulfill the obligations specified in the agreement. This investment is part of our strategy, under which we are abandoning small intakes where there is little water and costs are high. An example of these efforts is the closure of the old, costly-to-maintain intake in Mierzwin after it was connected to Rakowice.
Istotne Informacje: What exactly are you doing in Rakowice? What is the scale of the modernization?
Grzegorz Kozłowski: In Rakowice there will be 13 active deep wells, with an average depth of 30 meters, including four newly built wells and five rehabilitated ones.
The facility is also being modernized. All the technology, including the tanks, will be replaced. There will be 14 large tanks containing filter media for water treatment. The plant will be unmanned and fully automated. It will have a modern automation, control and monitoring system. This is very important because it is connected with water safety.
We will monitor and check water quality online across many parameters—water conductivity, pH, turbidity, and the presence of chlorine, iron and manganese—continuously. The water composition will be analyzed every five minutes. Similar monitoring is also carried out at the Modłowa plant and the water tanks, but on a somewhat smaller scale.
As part of the use of new technologies, we will have a heat pump and use heat from the water to heat the facility and dehumidify the filter hall.
Istotne Informacje: This is not PWiK’s only investment in Bolesławiec.
Józef Król: There are quite a few of them this year, that is true. Together with the Rural Commune, we are co-financing sewerage construction in Nowa Wieś and Lipiany, costing PLN 1.5 million. On the Jana Pawła II estate (Piastów), we will carry out a large scope of work worth nearly PLN 1 million. This will include, among other things, a new water supply network feeding five pressure-boosting stations; the old pipes were already significantly corroded. We are also replacing the water supply network on Wańkowicza Street. We will continue renovating the sewerage system on Gałczyńskiego Street. We are also investing in modernizing the monitoring system and integrating it into a single system with Lwówek.
We are doing many things to a high standard in order to make use of our excellent water resources and ensure that water supplies are safe and as economical as possible.
(information: ii)