The establishment of JZWiK joint stock company

The establishment of Jastrzębie Waterworks And Sewerage (JZWiK S.A.) followed the division of PWiK company in Wodzisław Śląski, which resulted in taking over some employees, assets and respective current receivables by JZWiK. It was agreed that the division would take place on 1st May, 1994.
The establishment of waterworks in Jastrzębie Zdrój enabled one company to take control over all the issues relating to water abstraction and sewage disposal , which was supposed to cut down the costs of network maintenance, to improve availability of maintenance services and to make it possible to plan investments and repairs properly, taking into account the needs of the town.
Before the establishment of the company PWiK Wodzisław Śląski had been operating on the local market. The town of Jastrzębie Zdrój took over 200 kilometres of its pipe network, where 95% of pipes were made of steel and the leaks amounted to 33% in 1992 and 60 kilometres of sanitary sewage network which was also in a poor technical condition. Additionally, 60 kilometres of pipe network were taken over from communal waterworks and the leaks there amounted to 60%.

Historical background

Our company has been operating on the local market since 1994. It is a joint stock company employing 197 people.
At present the company is registered in National Register of Companies in The District Court in Gliwice under KRS 0000044894 and holds its own Taxpayer Identification Number 633-00-15-717. The town of Jastrzębie Zdrój had been the only shareholder of JZWiK until 2006, when it was joined by two neighbouring communes, Godów and Mszana. The joint stock capital amounts to 137,762,230 PLN.
The objective of the company is to continually supply water and to collect and treat sewage. GPW had been the main water supplier for the town of Jastrzębie Zdrój until water from Czech Republic was chosen as an alternative source. Currently, our company provides Jastrzębie Zdrój and Zebrzydowice with water and collects and treats sewage from Jastrzębie Zdroj, Godów and Mszana. In 2006 the company sold approximately 4, 920, 000 m³ of water, collected and treated 3, 489, 000 m³ of sewage, which constitutes 79% of the total water sale.
Receiving funds from European Union has been a milestone in our activity. On 16th December,2004 it was decided that the project ' Water and Sewage Managementl Solutions For The Inhabitants of Jastrzębie Zdrój, Mszana and Godów, Protection of Upper Odra and Vistula Catchments.' would be in 84% co-financed by Cohesion Fund. The total value of the project amounts to € 34 million.

Current activity and investments

On 20th December, 1993 Jastrzebie Waterworks and Sewerage in Jastrzębie Zdrój was registered by the decision of District Court in Katowice, VIII Economy Registration Department into the Register of Companies holding the reference number of RHB 10372. On 1st May, 1994 the Voivod of Katowice handed water and sewage facilities and buildings to the town of Jastrzębie Zdrój to be its assets. Subsequently, the town handed them to JZWiK for further exploitation.
At present the company is registered in National Register of Companies in The District Court in Gliwice under KRS 0000044894 and holds its own Taxpayer Identification Number 633-00-15-717. Over the 13 years of its activity the company has repaired and modernized nearly 206 kilometres of water network, modernized 5 pumping stations of drinking water for Staszica, Morcinka, Barbary, Arki Bozka, Pionierów and Chrobrego housing estates. It has also built reduction stations in water abstraction stations taking water from GPW water-main and water pipeline from Czech Republic. Consequently, the reduction stations stabilized the water pressure in municipal pipeline and reduced the number of failures and water leaks. In order to improve the quality of water 54 kilometres of pipeline made of steel pipes need changing into plastic pipes. According to plans it will have been accomplished by 2010.
On 23rd December, 2001, Severomoravske Vodovody a Kanalizace a.s. began to supply water to Jastrzębie Zdrój. Currently, the majority of the inhabitants receive 'Czech' water from its springs in High Beskidy Mountains.
Receiving funds from European Union has been a milestone in our activity. On 16th December,2004 it was decided that the project ' Water and Sewage Managementl Solutions For The Inhabitants of Jastrzębie Zdrój, Mszana and Godów, Protection of Upper Odra and Vistula Catchments.' would be in 84% co-financed by Cohesion Fund. As the result an agreement concerning the investment implementation between the town of Jastrzębie Zdrój and JZWiK was signed. On 26th September, 2005 the first contract within the project - ' Preparation and management of tenders - consultant' was signed. (more information available from the 'cohesion' bookmark)

Since 2005 JZWiK has built :

- 4, 900 metres of pipe network
- 552 metres of sanitary sewage system
- 23 inspection wells

It has also modernized :

- approximately 18.9 kilometres of pipe network including pipe connections
- approximately 2.2 kilometres of sanitary sewage system
- 515 inspection wells
- 1 pumping station

The company runs its business taking into account environmental protection regulations and protection of surface and subsoil waters. The process of tightening sewage system protects the environment from sewage leaks into subsoil waters, constant surveillance of sewage system allows to monitor the most unreliable areas of the system and exchange them. Sewage treatment is boosted by chemical substances only to a small extent, which is not only environmentally-friendly but also lowers the costs of activity.
In order to improve customer service, in 2005 Customer Service Department was opened and its staff deal with all customers' queries concerning our activity.
Since 1994 the company has been a member of the Chamber of Business 'Polish Waterworks', assembling nearly 500 waterworks companies in Poland. In recognition of our achievements we have had in such a short time of activity, the representative of our company has been elected several times to be the member of the Council of the Chamber, despite the fact we are one of the newest and smallest companies.
Being the member of the Council of the Chamber we participate in the creation of new legal regulations relating to environmental protection and water abstraction and sewage disposal together with the cities of Warsaw, Wroclaw, Koszalin, Gdansk, Katowice and Lublin.
Currently we are exploiting :

● approximately 477.8 kilometres of pipe network
● approximately 94.8 kilometres of sewage system
● 5 water pumping stations
● 27 sewage pumping stations
● 4 sewage treatment plants

JZWiK holds valid permissions to exploit existing sewage treatment plants , to produce waste and to recycle hazardous waste.
The company is well-recognised. Over the last years it has received a lot of awards and prizes including the title of 'Fair Play Company', Golden Certificate of 'Business Gazelle' and the title of the 'Leader' in 'Polish Success' contest gala.
The Board members :

● mgr inż. Tadeusz Pilarski – The Director of the Board
● mgr Elżbieta Buczkowska – The Member of The Board
● Stefan Cygan- The Member of The Board

The company is supervised by the supervisory board which includes :

● six representatives of the shareholders
● three representatives of the employees

The members of supervisory board :

● Janusz Kuśmierski
● Leszek Pukowiec
● Jolanta Abramczyk
● Czesław Betlej
● Robert Cichowicz
● Grażyna Kleeberg
● Tomasz Kubicius
● Aleksandra Tkocz
● Eugeniusz Wala