Environmental policy and social responsibility of Barnaul Vodokanal

The activities of Barnaul Vodokanal are aimed at meeting the strategic challenges of implementing new technologies, replacing obsolete equipment, repairing utility systems and improving the quality of services provided to the public as regards water supply and drainage.

Last year saw efforts continue to upgrade the purification facilities of the water-supply system. To date, 11 filters have been refurbished, with water-air washing implemented and the drainage distribution system and filtration medium replaced. New technologies improve the performance of water purification.

A project has been implemented to improve the water supply and save electric power by altering the zoning pattern and fine-tuning the operating mode of networks.

The construction of a 10 000 m3 reservoir of clean water at stage 3 pump station has made it possible to increase the water reserve and improve water supply in the Potok district.

The river water purification facilities saw automation work continue, with a system installed for automatic transmission of metering and monitoring instrument readings to the workstation of shift engineer.

A project was implemented at sewage treatment facilities No 2 to modernize the aerotank, with Ekopolimer-made tubular aerators installed. This will dramatically improve the performance of biological treatment of wastewater.

Last year the company introduced new technologies at the town’s highest-performance sewerage station, RNS-1.It receives daily over 80 thousand [cubic meters] of wastewater coming from the Industrialny, Zheleznodorozhny and Leninsky districts.

In step with R&D

The company acquired a package of state-of-the-art instruments, which improved the performance and response time of Barnaul Vodokanal field units. The British-made Enigma correlation logging system for locating leaks makes it possible to zero in on the pipeline damage point quickly and accurately when no obvious signs of damage are in evidence, i. e., with no water seeping through to the surface.It used to take a lot of time to locate the damage; now it takes a mere 10 minutes to find the rupture point.

Another wonder instrument, called Metrotech utility locating system, pinpoints the location and depth of underground services with no excavation required, covering an area of up to 150 metres.

In their work, the staff of Barnaul Vodokanal use the PrimeLog pressure recorder, which records the readings (diagrams) of actual pressure in the flow pipelines (water mains) on a 24/7 basis every 5 minutes or on a less frequent basis.

Another unique device is a 2/W350/3M robotic system for remote inspection, which enables visual examination of the inner surface of sewage conduit 400 to 2000 mm in diameter, with video stream saved on electronic media. The colour images of pipeline arches are transmitted in real time to the pilot’s monitor on the surface. The ROV will make it possible to give early warning for worn-out sections and undertake prompt repairs on sewerage networks.

In 2005, 2006 and 2007, Barnaul Vodokanal won the All-Russia competition for the best company in housing and public utilities in terms of performance in the new economic environment.