Will you be able to surpass your successes from the previous period in 2016? Let me list the most important ones: low water and wastewater prices (in Poland, PLN 4.45; in Bolesławiec, PLN 3.49); e-invoices and a new vehicle fleet—in other words, investments in the company. You were named Company of the Year for the second consecutive time. In addition, there is the modernization of the Rakowice Water Treatment Plant, the 500th anniversary of Bolesławiec’s waterworks, agreements with the European Union and environmental education.
Józef Król: In the new year, 2016, we will work as we have so far, taking care of the Company’s sustainable development. We have clearly outlined long-term plans, as well as precisely defined annual tasks scheduled over time. Our priority is to ensure residents of the Municipality and City of Bolesławiec and the Municipality and City of Lwówek Śląski continuous supplies of good-quality water and efficient wastewater collection. We constantly remember that the cost of our services should be as low as possible. Under the new tariff for the current year, the price of water and wastewater increased by only 1%, and our prices remain lower than the average for Lower Silesia and Poland.
This year will focus mainly on consolidating the water supply systems. This concerns the systems in Bolesławiec and Lwówek and aims to further increase the security of high-quality water supplies. We will also connect the sewerage system in Trzebień to the Bolesławiec system, which will have a positive impact on costs.
At the wastewater treatment plant, with financial support from the European Union, we plan to build a solar power plant. Currently, we cover half of the plant’s electricity and heat demand with green energy produced on site from biogas. Once we also supply the plant with photovoltaic energy, it may become energy self-sufficient.
We are constantly working to keep the network infrastructure in good condition. New and rebuilt sections of transmission water mains will make it possible to supply consumers with water having excellent physicochemical parameters, at the appropriate pressure and in sufficient quantities. We are building new sections of the sewerage system that improve wastewater transport and shorten the time it takes wastewater to reach the treatment plant. In addition, the entire water and sewerage network and all facilities are covered by monitoring, the modernization of which we will complete this year.
We will continue the educational program dedicated to children in the third grades of all primary schools in the city and municipality. We also want to promote the qualities of our water and encourage people to drink it straight from the tap, because it has the parameters of spring water. It is always fresh and has a beneficial effect on our health.
Our work is not focused on successes; if its results are noticed externally, we are pleased. For us, internal success will mean effectively achieving the goals set for 2016 while maintaining the principles of sustainable development. The value of investments planned for 2016 exceeds PLN 8 million.
The Rakowice Water Treatment Plant, modernized in 2014, was entered into the competition by Marek Skorupa, President of the Provincial Fund for Environmental Protection, and as a result you received the title of Modernization of the Year 2014. What specific benefits do water consumers in Lwówek and Bolesławiec gain from this?
Thanks to the modernization of the Water Intake and Treatment Plant in Rakowice, we gained for our service recipients a water source with a capacity of 10,000 cubic meters per day. This means that we have secured water supplies for Bolesławiec and the surrounding area and can still supply some of this water to Lwówek Śląski Municipality. The two water supply systems, in Bolesławiec and Lwówek, are becoming increasingly closely connected.
The use of siphon water collection is of great importance here, as it requires no electricity, making the entire water production process in Rakowice very inexpensive. In addition, the quality of the extracted water means that it only needs to undergo basic treatment processes.
The Modernization of the Year 2014 award is proof for us that we made the right decision in undertaking this investment. It is not an award granted automatically. We had to earn it; the entry was verified by the competition committee and assessed. In fact, this award is not for us—it, like all the others, is rather a message to our customers. It tells them that the company is managed exemplary, and that the expenses it incurs are properly calculated and rationally spent.
A year and a half has passed since you entered Lwówek Śląski. Is this more of a success, or does it involve more problems to solve? How has taking over Lwówek affected the company?
Undoubtedly, it means more work for us, but also greater satisfaction. Our employees are highly skilled professionals and are handling the problems we encountered when we began operating in the Municipality and City of Lwówek Śląski very well. During this time, following a thorough modernization carried out independently—from design through construction—we launched the water treatment plant in Lwówek Śląski in May. Thanks to it, existing consumers are now drinking water without excess manganese that fully meets the criteria for good-quality water. Residents of several localities previously supplied from the intake in Płakowice have been drinking water without excess selenium since December; we solved this problem by bringing water from the Bolesławiec system. We improved the operation of the wastewater treatment plant to such an extent that it is no longer necessary to pay fines for exceeding the limits for treated wastewater discharged into the environment.
We have been granted a vote of confidence by the local authorities of the Municipality and City of Lwówek Śląski, and our achievements so far show that we are not letting them down. What is more, we have already noticed interest in our services among local governments neighboring Lwówek.
What about promoting spring-quality tap water? In Poland, there are more and more civic initiatives encouraging people to drink tap water instead of bottled water. Do you consider yourselves pioneers in this promotion? Based on your observations, how have residents responded to it? Are more Bolesławiec residents reaching for tap water?
In recent years, water intake and treatment technology has developed significantly, as can be seen not only here. The largest urban agglomerations in our country can already boast modern equipment and, most importantly, the results of its use. We are not pioneers in this field, but neither are we falling behind. We are slowly noticing that people are becoming convinced to drink tap water. If anyone has not yet drunk our water straight from the tap, we encourage them to do so. The water is always fresh, tasty and healthy. Anyone who begins to regularly drink at least one liter of our water—spread throughout the day—will certainly notice an improvement in their well-being and health. Water carries nutrients throughout our bodies, cleanses them of metabolic waste products and toxins, and regulates blood pressure and body temperature.
Does the innovation award received in 2015 have any impact on the company’s prices or service quality?
Our innovation was noticed and recognized across the industry nationwide, resulting in our being awarded the title of “Local Development Leader” at the Polish Entrepreneurship Congress in Łódź.
The award itself has no impact on prices or service quality, but what was recognized—modern management of the Company in both the technical and technological areas and the economic and financial areas—certainly has a positive impact. This translates into the high quality of our services and prices that do not exceed the Polish average. For us, the award confirms that the actions we have taken are right. Every distinction is also an opportunity to inform the local community about what is happening in the company and that things are going well.
Innovation at our Company primarily means IT management systems, monitoring of the network, water intakes and treatment plants, a hydraulic model of the water supply network, and the introduction of a mobile digital mapping system (GIS)—all of this serves to optimize the operation of the systems, and optimization is needed to reduce operating costs in every area of our activity.
When a representative of an international water supplier (we are talking about SUEZ) comes to a plant in a medium-sized city, how do you view this as a company? Is it a success—we have been noticed? Is something wrong with us and do they want to teach us? Are there any specific plans for cooperation with SUEZ?
Contacts with SUEZ are an opportunity for us to exchange experiences. It is not so much that they want to teach us something; we ourselves want to learn from the best. Cooperation with companies such as SUEZ is a good opportunity for us to compare our achievements with those of a company of global importance, and a chance to learn about good practices and the latest technologies. SUEZ manages waterworks in many large urban agglomerations around the world. We do not have to hide the fact that we are flattered that they want to cooperate with us. At the current stage, we see the scope of this cooperation in improving the operation of mainly water supply systems. This includes locating failures using helium and cleaning water mains with crushed ice. We want to examine and test these technologies thoroughly.
What is PWiK preparing for residents in 2016?
All our activities and all our work are focused on residents, the recipients of our services; we have already said a great deal about this. We hope most of them will be satisfied with our services, and we will do everything we can to make that happen. We wish them good health.
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