Jaša Žižek Fuis
Water is vital to the global society and crucial for human health and the environment; therefore, responsible management of water is becoming a top global priority, followed by increasingly stringent legislation with the objective being, naturally, to ensure sustainable development and environmental protection – wastewater treatment represents an important part here because wastewater can have a very harmful impact on the quality of life and may cause irreparable damage. At Petrol, we first launched wastewater treatment services in the context of our sustainable resource management already 20 years ago.
Responsible wastewater management for higher quality of water resources
At Petrol, we say that “the key in wastewater treatment is to have proper knowledge of all available wastewater treatment technologies, as this enables choosing an optimal technology based on the specifics of an individual environment or wastewater treatment application.” We have many years of experience in municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants. Moreover, our big advantage lies in the fact that in addition to in-house experts in the field of wastewater treatment technologies, legislation and reporting, we have experts developing programs for process control, energy use optimisation and process data analysis.
At Petrol, we signed the first concession agreement for the construction and management of a treatment plant in 2001. Today, we manage four municipal wastewater treatment plants and two industrial wastewater treatment plants in the paper industry, as well as more than 50 own small municipal wastewater treatment plants ranging from 5 to 400 PE at Petrol’s gas stations and fuel storage facilities. In terms of design and management of wastewater treatment plants, we put a strong emphasis on the efficient use of energy and chemicals and on reducing the use of drinking water by reusing water that has been purified in the treatment process. Properly purified wastewater is, naturally, always at the forefront. Petrol manages a total of 137,830 PE.
At Petrol, we provide our clients with financing, construction and management of treatment plants. We also offer the service of renovation and installation of additional wastewater treatment phases in cooperation with esteemed and experienced technological equipment suppliers and service providers.
We have a responsible attitude towards the treatment of oily water, which we collect in oil separators at our service stations and in the storage of petroleum products prior to distribution to points of sale. For oily water, we have deployed our own treatment plant and we plan to build a new oily water treatment plant boasting higher capacity and modern technology in the near future.
“We put a strong emphasis on the efficient use of energy and chemicals and on reducing the use of drinking water by reusing water that has been purified in the treatment process”
Additionally, we plan to run a sludge drying plant because sludge treatment is a growing problem in Slovenia. Until recently, most of the sludge was transported to neighbouring countries however now also their capacity is limited and we need to establish a more sustainable and more economical solution.
Business models
We implement integrated wastewater treatment solutions by applying various business models tailored to our partners. In cooperation with local communities, cities, and municipalities, we implement projects via public-private partnerships using the concession model, whereas industrial users prefer entering into long-term contractual relationships that are tailored to their specific needs.
Throughout the concession period, we guarantee legally compliant operation of treatment plants to municipalities and at the same time ensure uninterrupted and reliable obligatory public utility service. We provide for the optimisation of the entire investment while delivering positive impacts on the environment. By managing several wastewater treatments plants, we have set up a large team of operators throughout Slovenia; this enables us to respond faster and quickly eliminate any faults or defects and also helps us when carrying out major maintenance works and interventions.
Efficient water system management reduces water loss
The beginnings of Petrol’s partnership with Slovenian public companies in the field of drinking water supply date back to 2012 when the Municipality of Kranj decided to implement a modern system for smart water network and drinking water distribution management with an efficient use of water resources. Being environmentally conscious, the municipality wanted to set up an additional control of network operation, improve the efficiency of operation, optimise operating cost and reduce water losses and the consequent abstraction of water from the natural environment. The DISNet WS (Digital Intelligent Smart Network Water Systems), helped them to digitalise the management service and ensure dynamic monitoring of hydraulic conditions in the drinking water system and quality in real time.
Efficient control reduces water losses
As a result of an extremely successful cooperation, we managed to relatively quickly set up a digital twin of water system, which required quite a few field interventions, measurements, instances of data processing, and corrective measures. The improved efficiency of water system operation and control has ensured higher operational safety in the long[1]run and reduced operating cost and risks related to water compliance and wholesomeness on the way from the source to the consumers. In addition, we also control and maintain the achieved level of water losses, which is our on-going objective and daily goal.
Petrol’s experts in the field of drinking water supply offer support to partners in utilising the water system’s real-time digital twin, thereby enabling partners to ensure a high level of drinking water supply to their end users. A better remote control and management of technological processes supported with the use of smart meters, modern management tools and other digital data and communication technologies also facilitate informed professional decisions regarding the sustainable development of the water system.
Digitalisation has become a part of our everyday life, especially in terms of energy system management. Besides providing support to smart and efficient drinking water management it also prolongs the lifetime of resources through the identified and managed (reduce) water losses, which is one of the basic guidelines of an integrated sustainable economy.
We are pleased to see proactivity in Slovenian and other countries in the region water companies, which are environmentally aware and inclined towards developing water system management services supported by modern digital tools.
