AVK valves reducing water losses and improving technical conditions of the water networks and drinking water treatment plant in Sofia
Surrounded by sprawling parkland, Sofia, the capital and largest city of the Republic of Bulgaria, is located at the base of the popular ski mountain, Vitosha, in the western part of the country. The city has 1.4 million inhabitants. Being in the centre of the Balkan peninsula, it is midway between the Black Sea and the Adriatic Sea and closest to the Aegean Sea.
AVK has been the sole supplier of gate valves for Sofia Water for 20 years, and in the meantime also the main supplier of butterfly valves. As a result of the city’s investments, the regulation of the drinking water networks in Sofia has become much more stable, flexible and comfortable for the customers. In case of repair or rehabilitation works in the networks, smaller areas can now be closed and isolated from the rest of the networks thus affecting much fewer households. Besides water losses caused by emptying and refilling the water networks before and after, the repair works have been reduced significantly as well.
The overall reduction of water losses from 62 % (1997) to 45 % (2016) is a result of complex measures (new water pipes, pressure reduction in the whole networks etc.). In addition, there is also a specific role of AVK valves in improving the technical condition and reliability of the water networks and drinking water treatment plant in Sofia. Since AVK started to sell valves in Bulgaria in 1997, approx. 40,000 valves have been sold and installed, most of them in Sofia.
AVK valves have the highest reputation among management and technical specialists of Sofia Water. Therefore, in the past 20 years, AVK has been chosen as supplier of valves for Sofia.
Sofia Water
Sofia Water supplies water for the inhabitants of the Bulgarian capital and a number of villages surrounding it with a total number of 1.4 million people. The served area has a size of 1,348 m2, the length of the water networks is 4,075 km and the length of the wastewater networks is 1,600 km. Around 1,200 employees work for Sofia Water. Sofia Water invests approx. EUR 20 million every year in the rehabilitation and maintenance of its drinking and wastewater networks.
By Claus Møller-Nielsen, Market Development Manager at AVK International A/S
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