Water companies in the Czech Republic

Currently ONDEO Services is working in six Czech water companies:

These companies have over 3 thousand employees altogether and their annual turnover is more than CZK 4 billion. The ONDEO Group companies in the Czech Republic supply over 1.6 million inhabitants with drinking water, among of these there are 1.2 million connected to the public sewerage, as well.

Brnenske vodarny a kanalizace, Inc. was founded in May, 1992, and its activity is linked to the good results of its predecessors. Since 1872, when the Pisarky water treatment plant was constructed, several generations of water management have been providing the inhabitants of Brno and its surroundings with drinking water supply, drainage and waste water treatment.

The company is one of the most efficient Czech water treatment companies, which is mainly proved by the level of leakage of water in the network, the cleaning effect of the sewage treatment plant, application of modern diagnostic methods, high proportion of excavation-free technologies, and the rate of accredited activities.In 2008 the company had 553 employees; it managed 1,318 km of water supply networks and 1,136 km of sewerage networks. The total volume of produced water was 32.7 million m3 and the company’s turnover reached CZK 1,460 million.BVK supplies about 395 thousand inhabitants in Brno and its surrounding area with drinking water. The main activity of the company is to operate public water supply and sewerage systems, to produce and supply drinking water, to detect faults on the water supply system, to survey water and sewerage systems, to perform TV camera surveys of the systems.

The aim is also to provide drainage of wastewater and rainwater and its treatment at the Brno – Modřice wastewater treatment plant including sludge disposal. The company’s laboratories conduct analyses of drinking water and waste water. The investment and design activities are focused on preparation and implementation of civil structures in the field of water and waste water management. All activities of the joint–stock company are vital for the life of the city and its inhabitants.The company conducts its business not only in Brno, but also in the towns of Kurim, Modrice, Brezova nad Svitavou, the municipalities of Lelekovice, Ceská, Moravany, Nebovidy, Vranov, Menin, Moutnice, Stepanov nad Svratkou, Zelesice, Svarec, Skorotice, Chlebska, Dolni Loucky, Doubravnik and the Vir Regional Water Supply System, Association of Towns and Municipalities and Unions of Municipalities.

The company Ostravske vodarny a kanalizace, Inc. originated in 1992 after the privatization of the state-owned company Severomoravské vodovody a kanalizace without subsequent ownership. In 1993 the French company SUEZ Environnement entered into the company, and is now the major shareholder. Another big shareholder is the corporate town of Ostrava.

The business strategy and targets are aimed at meeting the company’s priorities. Among them there are still the effective management, operation and development of the hired technical infrastructure under the principles of a customer-friendly company according to strict quality standards.

OVAK supplies 316 thousand inhabitants of Ostrava with quality drinking water. 70 % of it is bought from SmVaK Ostrava. It is surface water, coming from the dams of Moravian - Silesian district. The remaining 30 % is covered by its own production from the underground sources located in the area of Ostrava. The annual production of drinking water from underground sources amounts to around 8 million m3 of water.

In 2008 the company had 381 employees, and managed 1,023 km of water networks and 813 km of sewerage networks. The total volume of water for distribution was 22.6 million m3 and the company’s turnover reached CZK 902 million.

OVAK’s mission is to run and maintain the infrastructure property, the water and sewerage networks, to look after the continuous supply of drinking water to all customers in the area of the town of Ostrava, and at the same time to carry out the drainage and follow-up waste water cleaning.

Since 2005 the company Ostravske vodarny a kanalizace, Inc. has been one of the water service companies in the Czech Republic that match the requirements of the management integrated system for these areas:

• quality management system,
• environmental management system,
• occupational safety and hygiene management system

In 2008 the successful repeated certification of all these three systems was carried out and Ostravske vodarny a kanalizace, Inc. gained certificates under the standards of ISO 9001:2000, ISO 14001:2004 and specification OHSAS 18001:2007.

Vodarny a kanalizace Karlovy Vary, Inc. (further only Vodakva) originated after the privatization of the state-owned company in 1994. However, its history started in 1882, when the first town water works in Karlovy Vary was established. Vodakva, since its establishment, has considerably extended its territorial influence in this region. The company has spread from the Karlovy Vary region into five areas in four regions (Karlovarsky, Plzensky, Ustecky and Stredocesky).

Nowadays Vodakva operates, under agreements, drinking water supply features and complete drainage for more than 90 municipalities from Karlovy Vary, Tachov, Sokolov, Chomutov, and Rakovnik districts, where most of these are members of The Water Management Association of the West Bohemia Region. This association was founded in 1993 to ensure the operating and development of the public water supplies and sewers owned by municipalities, and together with the French company SUEZ Environnement it is the major shareholder of Vodakva.

The goal of Vodakva is first and foremost to provide complete high-level water resources services. The company ensures the production and reliable supply of high quality drinking water, which meets all the legal demands, discharges and cleans wastewater, looks after the entrusted water resources property, and keeps improving its condition. Vodakva works professionally with qualified staff, a correct amount of modern mechanization, vehicles and communication engineering. In addition to operating it develops water pipes and sewers, ensures the construction and assembly work, and supply of mechanical and electrical technologies. It provides economical management, under the control of municipalities, reduces costs by automating technological objects and optimising processes, uses the optimum capacity of facilities for drinking water supplies and drainage and so keeps the water and sewerage charges below the Czech average. The company conducts itself in an environmentally friendly manner, satisfies all the certified criteria for the quality of cleaned waste water disposal, and checks and limits the impact of its activities on the environment.

In 2008 the company had 534 employees, it managed 1,418 km of water supply networks, 601 km of sewerage networks and it supplied 183 thousand inhabitants with drinking water. The total volume of produced water was 14.9 million m3 and the company’s turnover reached CZK 635 million.

In 2008 Vodakva gained the ISO certificates according to CSN EN ISO 9001:2001, CSN EN ISO 14001:2005 and OHSAS 18001:1999 for all provided services.

Sumperska provozni vodohospodarska spolecnost, Inc. originated in 1994 after the privatization of the company Vodovody a kanalizace Sumperk, which was a long-time manager of water and sewerage networks in the region of Sumperk. The company’s activities result from the construction and operating of the advance water system for the town of Sumperk in modern history.

SPVS is an operation company that under the long-term contracts manages and operates the water property of towns, municipalities, and especially the joint stock company Vodohospodarska zarizeni Sumperk, Inc. which incorporates 6 towns and 24 municipalities of the Sumperk region.

In 2001 the company’s major shareholder became ONDEO Services (today SUEZ Environnement).

One of the basic aims of the company is the stable and long-term development of water and sewerage services in the covered area. A medium - term plan of the company was accepted for the implementation of this, which emphasizes particularly the reduction of the uninvoiced parts of water, improvement of the customer service, and effective organization and human resources management, which involves staff training in an international environment.

In 2008 the company had 185 employees. It managed 619 km of water network, 323 km of sewerage networks and it produced over 5 million m3 of drinking water for more than 80 thousand inhabitants. The company’s total turnover reached CZK 250 million.

Within the further development of the business SPVS is gradually replacing the old defect sources with new underground water sources. By modernizing the water pipelines it is reducing the leakage of water and helping supply the inhabitants with drinking water in those municipalities where there are no quality water pipelines.

The close cooperation with the owners of infrastructure, quality services and the company’s good name guarantee stable operations and further development of water service in the Sumperk region.

Vodohospodarska spolecnost Benesov, Ltd. originated in 1994 by separating from the company Stredoceske vodovody a kanalizace Praha and following privatization, when all the infrastructural water property was handed over to the towns and municipalities. Since 2000 the multinational company ONDEO (SUEZ Environnement) has been the sole owner of VHS Benesov, Ltd.

In 2002 VHS merged with the company VOK Davle, s.r.o., on the basis of consolidation, and then with the company AQUACON, a. s. It is now a regional company handling complete water services related to the drinking water supply, waste water discharge and cleaning.

The company manages operations of water supply, water treatment plants, sewers and sewage treatment plants under the contractual relations with their owners. It carries out water constructions, including water and sewerage connections. It extended its activities to other provided services - drinking water supply to order, cleaning the sewerage systems with special devices, pumping and disposal of the waste water from septic tanks and sewers, setting out water pipelines, sale of water work material, and drinking water analysis. The company also runs two public wash-stands.

In 2008 the company had 176 employees and supplied 66 thousand inhabitants. It managed 589 km of water networks and 193 km of sewerage networks. The total volume of water for distribution was 4.4 million m3 and the turnover reached CZK 229.1 million.

The primary endeavour of the company is to have satisfied customers. It achieves this not only by providing quality services but also through the long- term good cooperation with the owners of the infrastructure. VHS Benesov wants to be a reliable partner for individual towns and municipalities.

VODARENSKA AKCIOVA SPOLECNOST, Inc., which originated on 1 December 2003, is one of the important regional operating water treatment companies in the Czech Republic. Its municipal character and focus on customer needs are the basic principles for providing services in the area of operating the public water and sewerage networks. It belongs to seven largest water companies in the Czech Republic.

The basic contractors are municipal authorities, towns and municipalities that are the owners of the technical infrastructure. VAS helps them not only run the water and sewerage networks but also develop and renew their technical infrastructure.The company carries on business in the West Moravia area, and the South Moravia and Vysocin regions. In particular in the area of the former regions of Brno venkov, Blansko, Jihlava, Trebic, Znojmo and Zdar nad Sazavou. It is an area with a significant rural character because only eight towns have a population of over 10,000 and only 43 municipalities have more than 2,000 inhabitants (69 % of municipalities have a population of less than 500).

In 2008 the company had 1 143 employees; the company’s turnover reached CZK 1,323 million. The complete operation of water networks was carried out for 544,6 connected inhabitants (96,8 % inhabitants, 672 consumption points) on 4,687 km of water pipes (80 water treatment plants, the capacity of the water tanks is 191,926 m3). The total volume of water for distribution was 29.5 million m3. The company manages 2,086 km of sewerage networks with 410,7 connected inhabitants (91.5 % inhabitants, 253 localities) with 116 sewage treatment plants.