Veolia Water inaugurates new Warsaw wastewater treatment plant

Apr 30, 2013

After four years' construction, upgrade and extension work by Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies, the city of Warsaw has just inaugurated its new wastewater treatment plant. With a population equivalent of 2.1 million, and a daily treatment capacity of up to 515,000 cubic meters of wastewater, it has brought the Polish capital's wastewater treatment into line with European standards.

In 2004, when Poland joined the European Union, just 30 to 40% of Greater Warsaw's wastewater underwent summary treatment. Most of the city's effluent - especially that from the more densely populated and developed left bank - flowed directly into the Vistula River and then into the Baltic Sea.

European Union funding was set in place to bring up to standard the existing Czajka treatment plant on the right bank of the Vistula, ten kilometers north of Warsaw city center.

The upgrade task was enormous: install 30 kilometers of wastewater collection system; construct a tunnel and a siphon under the Vistula to transport the left bank effluent; rebuild, modernize and extend the existing treatment plant; and build a sludge incineration plant.

The total investment came to more than 3 billion zlotys, or €769 million.

The work at Czajka alone accounted for €565 million, with 40% funded by the European Cohesion Fund and almost 60% by the Municipality of Warsaw. Following an international tender process, the work was contracted to Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies, a subsidiary of Veolia Water.

Green revolution for the Polish capital

With capacity for a population equivalent of 2.1 million, the Polish capital's new wastewater treatment plant is one of the largest in Eastern Europe. It treats 435,000 cubic meters of wastewater a day, and can handle up to 515,000 cubic meters at peak flow rate, which is well in excess of the old plant's capacity of around 200,000 cubic meters a day.

The treatment is based on the active sludge principle. This technology was chosen for its reliable and solid treatment and service. The wastewater is settled and treated biologically to remove the carbon, phosphate and nitrogen. The biological treatment is managed using advanced controls enabling a high level of treatment performance, while saving energy and reagent consumption.

It is Veolia's Bio-denitro™ process that achieves high levels of nitrogen removal. Odors are treated using the Veolia's air treatment process, Aquilair™.

Once the wastewater has been treated, the sludge from the Czajka wastewater treatment plant, as well as that from Poludnie, Warsaw's other wastewater plant, is incinerated in a furnace at 850°C. The incineration plant uses the Pyrofluid™ thermal treatment process that oxidizes the organic matter leaving recoverable ash and energy.

The incineration plant also uses the sludge's inherent heat to generate green energy.

Lastly, the technical performance of the processes used at this plant means that the incineration flue gas released into the atmosphere above the Polish capital falls well within the already very stringent air quality standards applicable in this area.

The incineration plant also uses the sludge's inherent heat to generate green energy. Lastly, the technical performance of the processes used at this plant means that the incineration flue gas released into the atmosphere above the Polish capital falls well within the already very stringent air quality standards applicable in this area.

The green revolution is underway in Warsaw.

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