He added: “We often, and not always fairly, notice them only when temporary communication difficulties arise because of roadworks, but once they disappear, few people consciously register the different standard of service. Yet this is the essence of the changes, whose material expression is found, among other things, in an amount well in excess of PLN 100 million. This is the cost of just one investment by ‘Wodnik’: new networks in Cieplice, Sobieszów and the Pomorskie housing estate. There are also other, smaller but extremely important projects.
One of them is the gradual implementation of a radio system for reading water-meter indications. “We have already installed approximately 3,500 such devices on main water meters,” explains Andrzej Hryniak from ‘Wodnik’, “out of approximately 8,000 main water meters in Jelenia Góra. In addition, these radio modules have already been installed on approximately 17,700 household meters out of approximately 35,000 such meters. However, the total number of ‘residential’ meters does not correspond to the number of water customers, because some people have as many as four meters in their apartments. Without going into detail, it can be said that the radio system not only makes work easier and speeds up the collection of information, but can also be installed in wells flooded with water. In the past, when a reading was necessary, the water had to be pumped out; today, all the data is transmitted by radio. This is also important in the case of complaints or disputes. The module, which is about the size of two or three matchboxes, is designed to operate for 15 years, and its readings are never imprecise or untrue, while mistakes are easier to make during a traditional reading, even when the work is carried out very carefully.
Another innovation is a system known as GIS, which—in a highly simplified form—involves creating and digitally documenting the course of the entire network in the city. “In the past, there were entire cabinets full of paper maps on which all repairs and route corrections had to be added by hand,” says Monika Kostrzewska. “Today, corrections are made on digital media, so they are available throughout the company at the same time. Considering the scale of our network—approximately 380 km of water-supply network and approximately 270 km of sewage network—that is an enormous reach. GIS gives us the ability to immediately analyze the condition of every section of the network, because the information contained in the system includes descriptions of pipe diameters, the materials from which they were made, construction years, dates of replacement or repairs, and so on. This greatly facilitates work to eliminate failures, because access to this information is a matter of moments, and during failures time is particularly valuable.
Computerization has become one of the basic tools at ‘Wodnik’, because systems controlling water supplies from individual intakes allow for any necessary interventions in emergencies—both at the ZUW water treatment plant in Cieplice and at the station in Grabarów. In turn, precise devices, including digital ones, in water-quality testing laboratories located at several sites in Jelenia Góra enable constant quality monitoring and protect against the risk of harmful substances entering the network.
“Just a few years ago,” emphasizes President Marcin Zawiła, “before the ‘Sosnówka’ reservoir was commissioned, there were periods when water supplies were restricted, as well as suspicions that the water might be contaminated. Today, few people remember those incidents.”
Jelenia Góra City Hall/ii