Water and effluents management

As part of the Environmental Management System, the Company has made an environmental declaration by which the organisation committed itself to reduce the impact of its water and effluents management on natural resources and to rational consumption of this resource. The Company monitors pollutants discharged into water and implements corrective measures as necessary. Prior to starting any investment project, the Company always obtains the required water permits.

GAZ-SYSTEM’s operations exert impact on surface water and groundwater, within river basins and catchment areas. Water is withdrawn predominantly for the following purposes: everyday needs of the personnel, operations, emergency (filling reservoirs for fire-fighting purposes) and investment projects (performing hydrostatic pressure tests, trenchless crossings) from:

• stagnant surface waters (ponds, lakes),
• flowing surface waters (rivers),
• seawater,
• groundwater intakes.

As a result of the operations, the abstracted water is discharged as effluent, which then enters waters or water facilities. The Company is obliged to comply with applicable  wastewater quality standards, which are precisely defined in such legal acts as:

• Water Law Act,
• Regulation of the Minister of Maritime Economy and Inland Navigation on substances particularly harmful to the aquatic environment and conditions to be met when discharging wastewater to waters or to the ground, and when discharging rainwater or snowmelt to waters or to water facilities,
• Regulation of the Minister of Construction on the manner of fulfilling the obligations of industrial sewage generators and the conditions for introducing sewage into sewerage systems.