Water

The Company supplies drinking water to third parties, both businesses and households. The drinking water treatment station has a HACCP system in place, under which the drinking water production process is monitored along the entire chain, from water intake, through treatment, to distribution. High quality of that water is ensured by a food safety management system compliant with the ISO 22000:2005 standard. Water quality is monitored through continuous testing performed by the Laboratory of the Utilities Production and Distribution Department and analytical oversight provided by the County Sanitary and Epidemiological Station in Tarnów as part of its monitoring activities. Given the analytical scope of the monitoring, analytical tests are contracted out to the municipal water supply and sewerage company (MPWiK) in Kraków.

At Grupa Azoty S.A., water drawn from the industrial water system and used at the Luwy unit is then recirculated to three cooling circulation systems to compensate for water losses. Unused excess water from the Luwy unit is fed back into the industrial water system. The Group has also launched a reverse osmosis unit and a system of water recovery from the condensate processing facility. Steam condensates are returned from the production units to the condensate processing facility, where they undergo demineralisation and then are fed back into the system for further use in the form of pre-processed (demineralised) water. This water is fed into utiliser boilers. In addition, it is also used in the Tarnoform unit start-up process and to compensate for losses in the heating water network. Any excess is returned into the demineralised water system. The amount of water reused in 2021 was 1.484 million cubic metres, accounting for 13% of the total water abstracted by the Company.

Grupa Azoty Police

Grupa Azoty Police draws water from two main sources: the western arm of the Oder river and the Gunica river.

The water is used for industrial purposes, as a cooling agent, and for fire-fighting applications. The volume of water drawn from the two rivers is continuously measured by means of flow meters, while the quality of water is examined at regular intervals (once every two months) by an accredited laboratory. Abstraction of water from the Oder does not materially affect the water quality or resources of the river. 

The company’s water footprint, i.e. the amount of water it uses directly and indirectly, is monitored. As Grupa Azoty Police draws water mainly from internal sea waters, there is no risk of its shortage. There is a shortage of water from the Gunica, from which water is abstracted periodically depending on the salinity of water from the Oder. The water intake from the Gunica river was constructed along with a surface water storage and pressure-equalising tank, which is to secure sufficient amount of water without exploiting water resources of the river. Due to high salinity of the Oder, the company also constructed an internal sea waters desalination unit to eliminate the risk of exceeding the annual water abstraction limit for the Gunica river. 

Grupa Azoty Puławy

Grupa Azoty Puławy abstracts surface water from the Vistula and Kurówka rivers, as well as underground water for industrial, energy, sanitary and drinking purposes in its own facilities and for external users. The company operates its own water intake points and water treatment systems. The water used for production and cooling undergoes decarbonisation or demineralisation processes, as appropriate.

Grupa Azoty Kędzierzyn

Grupa Azoty Kędzierzyn uses water for industrial purposes, as a cooling agent, as sanitary and drinking water, to produce process waters, and for fire-fighting applications. Grupa Azoty Kędzierzyn abstracts water from surface intake points on the Oder river and the Łącza stream, and from Tertiary and Quaternary reservoirs (deep wells). The company also purchases water from ground dewatering at the sand quarry of Kopalnia Piasku Kotlarnia S.A. 2021 was another year in which the water abstraction volume decreased (by 3.6% on 2020), while the product output grew (up 2.9%) on the back of upgrade work on the ammonia unit performed as part of the New Energy Concept. In 2021, there was also a favourable shift in the structure of water abstraction – the company reported a decrease (from 22% to 15%) of the share of groundwater in the total volume of water drawn. The improvement was possible thanks to better availability of surface water from the Łącza stream (an increase of 509.8 thousand cubic metres, or 18.3%).

Other Group companies

• At Grupa Azoty SIARKOPOL, a closed water circuit is used in the Osiek Sulfur Mine, as a result of which no wastewater is discharged to the environment. Thus the amount of reused water at Grupa Azoty Siarkopol in 2021 was 2.202 million cubic metres, that is 83% of the total volume of water abstracted by the company. 
• COMPO EXPERT – most of the surface (river) water abstracted by the Krenfeld plant in Germany is reused for technological processes up to three times before being discharged to the public sewage network.
• Grupa Azoty Jednostka Ratownictwa Chemicznego – in the process of hydrotransport of ash at the Czajka 1 and Czajka 2 landfill sites, water is returned and reused in closed circuit to reduce water consumption.

The Group does not operate in water stress areas.

Water withdrawal from all areas, by source [m³ / Ml]¹

¹ The Group does not classify water as low-mineralised water and other water, as such division does not apply to its operations. Grupa Azoty Puławy and Grupa Azoty Kędzierzyn do not withdraw water from water stress areas. The data for 2020 is presented in cubic metres. Since 2021, water data has been reported in megalitres.

Water withdrawal from water stress areas [m³ / Ml]²

² The Group does not classify water as low-mineralised water and other water, as such division does not apply to its operations. Grupa Azoty Puławy and Grupa Azoty Kędzierzyn do not withdraw water from water stress areas. The data for 2020 is presented in cubic metres. Since 2021, water data has been reported in megalitres.

Water discharge by discharge point [m³ / Ml]³

³ The Group does not classify water as low-mineralised water and other water, as such division does not apply to its operations. The data for 2020 is presented in cubic metres. Since 2021, water data has been reported in megalitres.

Water discharge in all areas, by type of water [m³ / Ml]⁴

⁴ The Group does not classify water as low-mineralised water and other water, as such division does not apply to its operations. The data for 2020 is presented in cubic metres. Since 2021, water data has been reported in megalitres.

Water discharge in water stress areas, by type of water [m³ / Ml]⁵

⁵ The Group does not classify water as low-mineralised water and other water, as such division does not apply to its operations. The data for 2020 is presented in cubic metres. Since 2021, water data has been reported in megalitres.

Water discharge by stage of treatment [m³ / Ml]⁶

⁶ The Group does not classify water as low-mineralised water and other water, as such division does not apply to its operations. The data for 2020 is presented in cubic metres. Since 2021, water data has been reported in megalitres
⁷ The mechanical wastewater treatment process at the Central Mechanical Wastewater Treatment Plant includes removal of debris, sands and fatty substances from wastewater
⁸ Neutralisation, aeration, coagulation, sedimentation, sediment separation, wastewater deeper treatment in pressure-equalising tanks
⁹ Central Industrial Wastewater Treatment Unit (COŚP) – mechanical and chemical treatment plant
¹⁰ Cooling water
¹¹ Mechanical and chemical treatment process
¹² Removal of debris and fatty substances from wastewater at the Piskorzowiec plant. Wastewater is self-purified in the system of earth sediment and pressure-equalising tanks
¹³ Tertiary biological treatment unit (pond) – natural biological and physico-chemical processes of self-purification from nitrogen and organic compounds. Through the discharge channel, wastewater generated by the company, including that treated on individual treatment units, flows up to the tertiary biological wastewater treatment unit (pond)
¹⁴ All wastewater discharged by Grupa Azoty PUŁAWY, including wastewater that has received primary and secondary treatment, undergoes tertiary treatment