The 3rd Capacity Development Workshop with the theme “Energy efficiency in WWT” was organized in Szczecin, Poland on 7–8 June 2017. The event attracted almost 90 participants from the Baltic Sea Region countries.
The first day of the workshop started with the greetings from the Vice Mayor of the City of Szczecin Marcin Pawlicki, who is particularly responsible for the environment protection and public utilities. His speech was followed by the welcoming words from Waldemar Gill, the Chair of the Board of the Water and Sewage Company Ltd. of Szczecin.
In the process of organizing IWAMA capacity development workshops, we try focus on the practical side of the problem, and connect the users with the solutions. That is why in the third workshop we introduced the format of a suppliers’ orienteering session involving representatives from the companies offering technologies for the wastewater sphere. We had a pleasure of hosting seven suppliers operating in the region. During the session, the companies introduced themselves and their solutions, and afterwards, the workshop participants could discuss freely the provided equipment and support, implementability of these solutions and experience of installing them on other plants.
However, the workshop did not only focus purely on technology: one of our target groups includes national knowledge-based communities (water associations, universities, environmental centers and other lifelong learning institutions). That is why it was equally important to highlight the questions of public participation in the water management sector. Further, the neighbourhoods sessions organized for the capacity development, energy efficiency and sludge handling interest groups respectively, provided the space for more in-depth discussions on the topics.
The second day of the event featured the site visit: this time, the participants had a chance to visit the Pomorzany WWTP – the flagman wastewater treatment project of Szczecin. While the large facilities of Pomorzany were only constructed in late 2000s, the plant is constantly looking for ways to optimize its energy consumption, for example, with modification of control system and mixing. Since the workshop attracted many participants, the site visit was organized in three guided tours: one with the focus on incineration plant, another on general technologies applied, and a separate group had more insights into the management work on the WWTP.
The materials will be soon uploaded to the materials folder, and the gallery is already available there.
We would like to sincerely thank the organizers, speakers and participants of the Szczecin workshop for the great atmosphere, your openness to new formats of discussion, presented excellence and valuable insights into the local examples of efficient operation. Have a great summer, and see you next autumn!
