Tallinna Vesi
Company Announcement

AS Tallinna Vesi Operational Performance in 9 months of 2011

AS Tallinna Vesi Operational Performance 9 months of 2011

During 9 months the operational and quality indicators of AS Tallinna Vesi have been on a very good level and indicate continuous improvement. Results have improved in all areas of activity. The quality indicators for water quality have so far been on the highest level ever and the reliability of service showed significant improvement. Thanks to the commissioning of the biofilter, built for the cost of 9 million Euros at the Paljassaare Wastewater Treatment Plant, wastewater treatment indicators have considerably improved and pollution discharged into Tallinn Bay has reduced. In addition to outstanding performance in water treatment and wastewater treatment, compliance was also achieved regarding all environmental objectives and customer service standards.

The best ever water quality

99.64% of the samples taken from the taps of AS Tallinna Vesi’s customers complied with EU drinking water quality requirements, continuously maintaining the quality comparable to the Western-European level, and is the highest standard the company has ever achieved. AS Tallinna Vesi has a water sampling programme that consists of over 3,000 samples being taken each year at sites independently chosen by the Health Board, and in 2011 only 8 samples have not met the required standards.

Serviceability of water supply

Due to the use of effective ways of working and improved planning, the average duration of water interruptions has reduced by 0.5 hour compared to the same period of 2010. In order to reduce the inconvenience caused by water interruptions, the Company has given advance notices of closing water due to emergency repairs to over 97% of the customers. The customers of a water company expect us to provide them with a good quality drinking water with the right pressure for 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. Compared to the same period of 2010, the number of customer inquiries related to water pressure reduced by 41% in 2011. This means from 1030 to 601 respectively.

We are contributing to the continuous improvement of networks

The level of leakages has reduced considerably compared with the same period in 2010. This has been possible both due to the better management and monitoring of water and sewerage network as well as quick response to leakages and bursts. When in 2001 the level of leakages exceeded 32%, then today the level has reduced to 18.77%. This means that compared to ten years ago more than 13 thousand cubic metres of treated drinking water is saved on a daily basis, which is a saving that is equivalent to the amount of water produced by Tartu Vesi each day (to check). Considerable reduction has been possible due to Company’s consistent efforts to use water resources more sustainably and with smaller losses.

The Company also pays a lot of attention to the risks of flooding and pollution, which means continuous work in the area of preventing blockages. In the 9 months of 2011 customers had less problems with blocked pipes and sewerage drainages compared to earlier. Reduction in blockages has been possible due to several preventive actions like jet washing the network and long-term investments for developing the sewerage network. In addition to preventing blockages the Company is also eliminating blockages quicker than previously. With the 9 months of 2011, 69% of the blockages were eliminated within 2 hours after registering the respective notice. Purposed preventive activity enables the Company to respond quicker and prevent the emergence of more serious problems.

We are continuously contributing to a purer environment

The impact of AS Tallinna Vesi on the surrounding environment has considerably improved during the recent years. Paljassaare Wastewater Treatment Plant is each year removing more and more pollution from the wastewater in order to comply with the environmental requirements and to ensure a clean Baltic Sea and Bay of Tallinn. In order to achieve the required performance, one of the biggest environmental investments of the decade was carried out when the Company built an additional treatment stage – biofilter - at the Wastewater Treatment Plant. Due to the new treatment stage, the volume of nitrogen discharged to the Baltic Sea reduces by 350 tons per annum. Out of the sludge – a side product to the wastewater treatment process – the Company produces soil, which can be used in landscaping. All of the sludge produced is reused and no sludge has been taken to the landfill during the last years. Contributing to a cleaner environment will remain as a priority for the Company also in further years.

Maardu

Drinking water:

In the second half of September 2011, Kallavere City District started to be supplied with a good quality drinking water from Tallinn public water network. As of 9 months approximately half of Kallavere City District is supplied with a good quality drinking water. Current plans ensure the supply from Tallinn water network to the entire Kallavere City District by the end of October.

Wastewater

Thanks to the completion of the construction of the connection between Maardu and Tallinn, from 23 August about half of the wastewater from Kallavere city district is conducted to the wastewater treatment plant in Tallinn. In the middle of September the discharge of untreated wastewater into the environment was stopped permanently in Maardu and all wastewater from Muuga is treated according to the requirements before it gets to the environment. In total to date 86 km of water and wastewater pipes have been constructed within the water economy project of the City of Maardu and by the end of October all wastewater from Maardu is planned to be discharged to Paljassaare wastewater treatment plant.

Watercom

OÜ Watercom is subsidiary established by AS Tallinna Vesi in 2010, the main areas of activity of which are providing services related to water business to local governments, companies and private persons. The company is providing services related to owner supervision, construction and project management.

In 2011 the Company has successfully participated in the procurements of owner supervision for pipeline and FIDIC Engineering services, winning both the CF water economy project of Harku as well as the procurements organised for providing owner supervision for the construction of water and wastewater pipeline and Fidic Engineering services in Tammiste village in Sauga municipality. Starting from July 2011 OÜ Watercom has been appointed as the water undertaking in four operating areas in Saue municipality.

Customers and Community

Compared to the last year, the number of customer complaints related to our networks has decreased and we have responded to more than 95% of the customer letters within less than 2 work days.

In 2011we reviewed and improved our promises to customers now, upon failure of keeping a promise, the Company pays compensation to the customers who have a contract with the Company. The number of contacts related to failures to keep a promise has reduced by 93% compared to the same period last year. Preventive actions and focussing the management’s attention to the subject have contributed to this. The promises of AS Tallinna Vesi are a part of the Company’s continuous devotion to provide services of even better quality to its customers. With those promises, the Company undertakes to achieve even higher levels of services than stipulated in the Services Agreement signed with the City of Tallinn and is one of the only companies of all utility companies in the Baltics with a customer service programme of that kind.

In the end of August, the Open Door Day was organised at the Ülemiste Water Treatment Plant as it takes place each year. This year more than 300 people interested in the plant’s work visited the site. There was an area popular amongst children, which was visited by almost 70 toddlers.

         Mariliis Topp
         Head of Communications
         AS Tallinna Vesi
         62 62 275
         mariliis.topp@tvesi.ee