BUSINESS

A Water Distribution Infrastructure

To Take Pride In

Severomoravské vodovody a kanalizace Ostrava, (SmVaK Ostrava) is the most important water

distribution and management company in the Moravian-Silesian Region. The company supplies

over 730,000 end consumers in the districts of Karviná, Opava, Nový Jičín, and Frýdek-Místek with

high quality drinking water. Drinking water from the company facilities goes to Ostrava, Hlučín, and

Studénka where the infrastructure and water distribution system is operated by another company

whose water supplies insufficient for the demand.

The largest water treatment plant in

the region, in Podhradí u Vítkova,

produces drinking water from the mull

of the Jeseníky (a resource chain of

dams from Slezská Harta to Kružberk)

for a significant part of the Olomouc

Region, Přerov District. SmVaK Ostrava

is also responsible for the collection and

treatment of wastewater, processed in

over seventy water treatment plants for

an area with a population of over half

a million.

“We can be really proud of the water

management system in the region,

not just on a national scale but also in

comparison with neighbouring countries.

Whenever I present the ways we manage

our water resources to produce drinking

water in our plants, the way water is

distributed, how robust and flexible our

system is when solving problems with any

of the resources, professionals in Poland

and Slovakia show us great respect and

recognition,” said Mr Anatol Pšenička,

CEO at SmVaK Ostrava.

The length of the key water main

totals 500 kilometres, with about

5,080 kilometres of water lines connecting

end users, and about 380 water towers

storing drinking water for end clients.

The crucial production and distribution

system for supplying the region with

drinking water is the Regional Water

Supply System of Ostrava (Ostravský

oblastní vodovod), sixty years old as

of 2018. Three central water treatment

plants (Podhradí u Vítkova, Nová Ves

u Frýdlantu nad Ostravicí, and Vyšní

Lhoty) draw water from dams in the valleys

of the Jeseník and Beskid Mountains,

managed

by

the

state-governed

company Odra Basin (Povodí Odry), i.e.

Kružberk, Šance, and Morávka). Then

the water is distributed to water towers

at individual urban areas and settlements.

“A drinking water processing and

distribution

network

with

waste

water treatment facilities, robust and

interconnected like ours inevitably

demands conceptual and continuous

care. In 2018, we invested 540 million

CZK in the infrastructure itself, and

another 230 million in repairs. 2019 will

in this view be a record year: we have

almost 660 million CZK ready to invest,

and more money will be spent on repairs

so that the final sum will reach about

800 million CZK. We expect the number

will increase in the long-term,” explained

Mr Pšenička.

POSITIV 2/2019 ǀ 21