{"id":29879,"date":"2022-06-08T14:58:41","date_gmt":"2022-06-08T13:58:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/2022\/06\/retrospektivni-pohled-na-sumpersky-vodovod-od-sedesatych-let-20-stoleti-do-soucasnosti\/"},"modified":"2024-07-23T15:16:49","modified_gmt":"2024-07-23T14:16:49","slug":"retrospektivni-pohled-na-sumpersky-vodovod-od-sedesatych-let-20-stoleti-do-soucasnosti","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/2022\/06\/retrospektivni-pohled-na-sumpersky-vodovod-od-sedesatych-let-20-stoleti-do-soucasnosti\/","title":{"rendered":"A retrospective view of the \u0160umperk water supply system from the 1960s to the present"},"content":{"rendered":"

SUMMARY<\/h2>\n

In the second half of the 20th century, the long-term problem of supplying the town of \u0160umperk with drinking water was finally solved. New sources of drinking water supplemented the missing capacities in the form of surface abstraction from Divok\u00e1 Desn\u00e1 within the newly built collective water supply system, together with the use of sources in Rapot\u00edn and Ol\u0161any. A\u00a0significant contribution to solving the problem was the reconstruction of the water supply network, water reservoir, and intake facilities, which reduced losses. An important factor that has reduced the water consumption of the population is, of course, the significant increase in water and sewerage prices in the last 20 years, which had an impact on \u0160umperk as well. The operational and organizational conditions of the town\u2019s\u00a0drinking water supply were negatively affected by society-wide development, which ultimately meant an increase in operating losses in the water supply network due to limited funds for the renewal and upgrading of the water supply network. The political changes in 1989 and the following period were reflected not only in the organizational conditions of the town\u2019s\u00a0drinking water supply, but also in the final consumption and price of drinking water, both in the \u0160umperk region and across the whole of the Czech Republic. With the example of \u0160umperk, it is also possible to illustrate the transformation of the water industry after 1989 and possible difficulties, new starting points, and challenges for its future development.<\/p>\n

INTRODUCTION<\/h2>\n

In the second half of the 20th century, the long-term problem of supplying the town of \u0160umperk with drinking water was finally solved. New sources of drinking water supplemented the missing capacities in the form of surface abstraction from Divok\u00e1 Desn\u00e1 within the newly built collective water supply system, together with the use of sources in Rapot\u00edn and Ol\u0161any. A significant contribution to solving the problem was the reconstruction of the water supply network, water reservoir, and intake facilities, which reduced losses. An important factor that has reduced the water consumption of the population is, of course, the significant increase in water and sewerage prices in the last 20 years, which had an impact on \u0160umperk as well. The operational and organizational conditions of the town\u2019s drinking water supply were negatively affected by society-wide development, which ultimately meant an increase in operating losses in the water supply network due to limited funds for the renewal and upgrading of the water supply network. The political changes in 1989 and the following period were reflected not only in the organizational conditions of the town\u2019s drinking water supply, but also in the final consumption and price of drinking water, both in the \u0160umperk region and across the whole of the Czech Republic. With the example of \u0160umperk, it is also possible to illustrate the transformation of the water industry after 1989 and possible difficulties, new starting points, and challenges for its future development.<\/p>\n

The period up to the 1960s<\/h3>\n

The development stages of the \u0160umperk water supply system before 1970 are described in detail in an article published in VTEI issue 5\/2021. It is possible to take up several important findings that influenced the development in the following period. An important aspect that affected the drinking water supply to municipalities after 1945 was the changes in the political regime. One of the negative consequences of the central planned economy during the Communist era was the centralization of water supply after 1948 and the setting of regulated water and sewerage prices, whose amount for households did not reflect the real costs of producing and distributing drinking water. Interestingly, the regulated price for households remained until 1991. The municipal company \u0160umpersk\u00e9 vod\u00e1rny (\u0160umperk Waterworks) lost its own source of electricity after nationalization \u2013 a\u00a0small hydroelectric power plant, which provided electricity for water pumps. As a\u00a0result, costs increased significantly because the company had to buy electricity. Drinking water to \u0160umperk was supplied from underground wells, which were gradually built on several springs within the alluvium of the river Desn\u00e1 in the immediate vicinity of the town of \u0160umperk (Fig. 1<\/em>).<\/p>\n\"\"<\/a>\n

Obr.\u00a01. J\u00edmac\u00ed objekty z\u00e1sobuj\u00edc\u00ed \u0161umpersk\u00fd vodovod v\u00a0obdob\u00ed 1883\u20132020<\/h6>\n
Tab.\u00a01. \u0160umperk town population development with selected water supply network parameters<\/h5>\n\"\"<\/a>\n

Adjusted according to [4, 13, 14].<\/p>\n

*Year of available data.<\/p>\n

Given the town\u2019s\u00a0post-war development, these resources were, of course, not sufficient to cover drinking water consumption satisfactorily. Until the construction of the new source, the public water supply system provided for about 60\u00a0% of the population out of the total number of 19,266 in 1961 (Tab. 1<\/em>).
\nIn 1960, the main source was 13 wells in the Lu\u017ee spring with a\u00a0flow rate of about 40 l\/s\u00a0(Fig. 1<\/em>). In the post-war period, the town tried to initiate a\u00a0remedy and required several expert opinions, but the bad condition was not resolved until 1971. In 1961, a\u00a0study was prepared for the investment task \u201dCollective Water Supply of \u0160umperk and its Surroundings\u201d by the Hranice project department of the Regional Water Management Development and Investment Centre. The study addressed the supply of the municipalities of the \u0160umperk region, with a\u00a0total population of 43,538 in 1962 and with a\u00a0future supply forecast of over 54,000 inhabitants in 1980 [1]. Two alternatives were developed in the study. The first of them was finally selected by the opposition proceedings of prof.
\nA. Sukovit\u00fd from Brno University of Technology and later built with modifications. This alternative included the construction of surface water intake facilities from Hu\u010div\u00e1 Desn\u00e1 (140 l\/s), Divok\u00e1 Desn\u00e1 (60 l\/s), and a\u00a0central water treatment plant in Kouty, using the existing groundwater sources in \u0160umperk (40 l\/s).
\nThe second alternative focused on the construction of intake facilities in Hu\u010div\u00e1 Desn\u00e1, Divok\u00e1 Desn\u00e1, and Merta, which were to form separate operating units with their own water treatment plants. At the end of the study, this alternative was evaluated as less suitable for economic and operational reasons.<\/p>\n

\u0160umperk collective water supply<\/h3>\n

On the basis of an elaborated and approved study for the investment task for the \u0160umperk collective water supply system (SV\u0160), an introductory project for the SV\u0160 was prepared in 1966 and, on 4 April 1967, a\u00a0zoning decision was issued. The construction itself was only started in 1970. The general designer was the Regional Centre for Water Supply and Sewerage Ostrava, project department Hranice, the general contractor of the construction part was Ingstav, Brno state enterprise, and the general contractor of the technological part was Sigma, Hranice state enterprise. Adamovsk\u00e9 stroj\u00edrny, Chepos Chot\u011bbo\u0159 state enterprise, ZPA Praha, and ZVVZ Milevsko became subcontractors. The proposed system was mostly gravitational (75\u00a0%), with 25\u00a0% pumping [2]. Due to the height differences of the network, it was necessary to interrupt the hydrostatic pressure by means of two diversion storage water reservoirs for the municipalities of Velk\u00e9 Losiny and parts of the municipalities of Rapot\u00edn and Petrov nad Desnou.<\/p>\n

In the first phase, due to acute problems with the water supply of \u0160umperk, an intake facility, a temporary water treatment plant (micro-sieve, chlorination), and a supply pipeline to the existing upper pressure zone reservoir (HTP) of \u0160umperk were constructed. For the town\u2019s needs, this procedure provided about 30 l\/s in 1971 [3]. The temporary solution had to optimize the network, pressure interruption, and venting. Prior to the construction of interruption\u00a0water reservoirs, the interruption shafts provided the said function (Fig. 2<\/em>).<\/p>\n\"\"<\/a>\n

Fig. 2. Intermitent manhole on the supply pipeline of the \u0160umperk group water supply system in the project documentation [3]<\/h6>\n

The complete drinking water supply system of all municipalities within the SV\u0160 was not completed until 1974, with a\u00a0final price of 42 million Czechoslovak crowns. Interruption water reservoirs with a\u00a0total volume of 2,200 m3 were built on the Kouty nad Desnou-\u0160umperk route. Water is supplied to the village of Lou\u010dn\u00e1 nad Desnou from a\u00a0water reservoir with a\u00a0volume of 150 m3, to Lou\u010dn\u00e1 from a\u00a0water reservoir of 250 m3, Velk\u00e9 Losiny is supplied from a\u00a0water reservoir of 2 x 650 m3, and Petrov from a\u00a0water reservoir of 650 m3 (Fig. 3<\/em>). The project also included the reconstruction of the armature chambers of the existing water reservoirs in \u0160umperk. The SV\u0160 system has gravity-fed water mains that transport both 350 mm raw water and 400 mm treated water. In addition to the water treatment technology itself, chemical, physical, and bacteriological laboratories and housing units were built in the two-storey water treatment plant in Kouty nad Desnou (Fig. 4<\/em> and 5<\/em>).<\/p>\n\"\"<\/a>\n

Fig. 3. Overall hydrotechnical situation of the group water supply system \u0160umperk in\u00a0the project documentation from 1966 [2]<\/h6>\n\"\"<\/a>\n
Fig. 4. Situation plan of the water treatment plant of the \u0160umperk group water supply system on the project documentation [2]<\/h6>\n\"\"<\/a>\n
Fig. 5. Water treatment plant at the time of construction (\u0160PVS archive), after reconstruction in 2008, the filters hall with reaction tank and filters, filter scrubbing (March 2022, A. L\u00e9tal)<\/h6>\n

1971\u20131989<\/h3>\n

The key investment for the period is the completion of the Kouty-\u0160umperk collective water supply system, which was the most important regional water management investment in the second half of the 20th century. Its construction solved the long-term shortage of drinking water for the Desn\u00e1 valley municipalities and the issue of drinking water supply for the 26 municipalities, including \u0160umperk. The collective water supply system, to which a special subsection is dedicated, provides almost 70 % of the region\u2019s needs. Due to population growth in \u0160umperk \u2013 from 23,683 inhabitants in 1970 to 28,101 in 1980 \u2013 the capacity of the existing resources was no longer sufficient and it was necessary to address their expansion. The construction of Dlouh\u00e9 Str\u00e1n\u011b pumped storage power plant had a negative impact on plans to increase surface water abstraction and the capacity of resources from the upper Desn\u00e1 river basin in the 1980s. The large concentration of machinery and equipment, as well as extensive construction work in the Divok\u00e1 Desn\u00e1 river basin, caused contamination with oil substances and the planned source of drinking water could not be used [7]. Therefore, a hydrogeological survey was carried out in the region in 1985\u20131988, which resulted in the drilling of wells in the future intake areas of \u0160umperk-B\u011blidlo, Ol\u0161any, and Rapot\u00edn (Tab. 4<\/em>). In the B\u011blidlo intake area, B\u011blidlo well was used for supply purposes, originally belonging to the Moravolen company and with a flow rate of about 5 l\/s. This source was connected by a transmission pipeline to the lower pressure zone reservoir in \u0160umperk.<\/p>\n

Tab.\u00a02. Newly built water reservoirs<\/h5>\n\"\"<\/a>\n

 <\/p>\n

Adjusted according to [3, 6, 8].<\/p>\n

The actual connection of the planned intake areas with the use of wells only took place after 1989. Another investment in the water supply network was the construction of a\u00a0new reservoir in Vyhl\u00eddka. The water reservoir solved the increase of the storage space for the upper pressure zone, necessary for the future construction of the \u0160umperk-Temenick\u00e1 housing estate. The project planned the construction of a\u00a0reservoir with a\u00a0volume of 5,000 m3, but the requirement was rejected by the investor \u2013 Severomoravsk\u00e9 vodovody a\u00a0kanalizace Ostrava \u2013 stating that the capacity of 1,500 m3 is sufficient for local consumption in the future [6]. In 1985, a\u00a0new 1,500 m3 reservoir was built, at a\u00a0cost of 3,255,125 Czechoslovak crowns, next to the existing 1,150 m3 upper pressure zone reservoir (Fig. 6<\/em>).<\/p>\n\"\"<\/a>\n

Fig. 6. Situation of the new 1 500 m3<\/span> water reservoir in the Vyhl\u00eddka locality on the project documentation [6]<\/h6>\n

In 1987, the project concept of a water supply solution with a view to 2010 was prepared. Within the framework of this concept, the use of Rapot\u00edn and Ol\u0161any springs, the construction of a control room, and the headquarters of waterworks in \u0160umperk on J\u00edlov\u00e1 Street were envisaged. The construction of the Skalka, Hradisko, and H\u00e1j water reservoirs was also planned. Back in 1989, a\u00a0two-chamber underground reservoir Skalka was built with a\u00a0volume of 1,500\u00a0m3, upgrading the water supply from SV\u0160 to the Horn\u00ed Temenice area and housing estates in the northern part of \u0160umperk. The technological solution of the supply pipeline was designed with regard to the possible interconnection of the water reservoir supply from Rapot\u00edn spring, which would ensure a\u00a0possible replacement of the outage from SV\u0160.<\/p>\n

After 1989 to present<\/h3>\n

The end of 1989 brought political changes that had an impact on society as a whole, including water management. In 1991, a gradual transformation of water management companies began under the supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture. \u0160umperk company 09 created a separate unit called Vodovody a\u00a0kanalizace \u0160umperk, state enterprise. As part of the development and maintenance of water management infrastructure, the period is characterized by the effort of all companies to repair the damage to the infrastructure caused by the underfunding of the sector in the previous period and to reduce network losses. The sharp increase in prices, which covered the actual costs of production and distribution of drinking water, caused a\u00a0corresponding reduction in water consumption by households, which eased the limiting capacities of resources, but also reduced the amount of funds paid for water abstracted (Tab.\u00a03<\/em>). The process therefore led to network optimization, operation automation, measurement and control, and especially to reduced water losses.<\/p>\n

Tab. 3. Development of water and sewerage prices in the period 1991\u20132020 in crowns\"\"<\/a><\/h5>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Adjusted according to [4, 14].<\/p>\n

It was not until 1991 that the water and sewerage prices for households were increased. From 1991, in \u0160umperk, the water price was set at 1.50 Czechoslovak crowns per 1 m3, and the sewerage price at 1.50 Czechoslovak crowns per 1 m3. As shown in Tab. 4, prices have been constantly rising. Even at the beginning of the 1990s, the planned constructions, which ensured the expansion of water resource capacities, were being finished. As part of the upgrading of water resources, abstraction from the B\u011blidlo intake area was increased to 13 l\/s\u00a0in 1991 and a\u00a0new Rapot\u00edn intake area was built (Fig. 7<\/em>) with six wells with a\u00a0capacity of 30 l\/s\u00a0(Tab. 4). As with other groundwater sources, the water quality is sufficient and it is treated only by chlorination, while the water treatment plant in Rapot\u00edn is fully automatic.<\/p>\n

Tab.\u00a04. Overview of intake structures built after 1970<\/h5>\n\"\"<\/a>\n

Adjusted according to [5, 7, 15].<\/p>\n\"\"<\/a>\n

Fig. 7. Rapot\u00edn Water Treatment Plant with intake well (left), engine room (right) (March 2022, A. L\u00e9tal)<\/h6>\n

Together with the source at Hu\u010div\u00e1 Desn\u00e1 (100 l\/s) and Lu\u017ee spring (45 l\/s), the capacity of all sources was 188 l\/s\u00a0in 1992. In 1994, the Ol\u0161any intake area was connected to the available capacities with two wells with a\u00a0flow rate of about 80 l\/s\u00a0(Tab. 5), which is intended to upgrade the supply of \u0160umperk and Z\u00e1b\u0159eh. The Ol\u0161any intake area was supplied by two intake wells HV-211 and HV-212 from 1992. Based on the hydrogeological survey and pumping tests, a\u00a0maximum flow rate of up to 200 l\/s\u00a0was derived [7]. The capacity of the spring is limited by the diameter of the pipeline to about 80 l\/s, with the fact that 70 l\/s\u00a0should be provided for Z\u00e1b\u0159eh and \u0160umperk and 7 l\/s\u00a0for the surrounding municipalities [7]. The water is of very high quality and does not require further treatment, except chlorination. In addition to the increase in sources, due to the contamination of groundwater at Lu\u017ee spring, the abstraction of some wells was limited and the original main water source is gradually losing its importance in the new millennium. B\u011blidlo spring was transferred to the emergency mode after connection of the \u0160umperk collective water supply system with the Ol\u0161any intake area. In 2002, the water supply for the town of \u0160umperk amounted to 2.8 million m3, of which production from surface water accounted for approximately 10.7\u00a0%. This means that the importance of a\u00a0key water source in the 1970s\u20131990s is again replaced by groundwater sources. The length of water supply lines in the town has reached 129 km, of which 42 km are supply pipelines and 87 km are water mains.<\/p>\n

An interesting achievement was launching the operation of small hydropower plants in the distribution chambers of Rapot\u00edn and Velk\u00e9 Losiny in 1993 (Fig. 8<\/em>). This approach follows up on the beginning of the 20th century, when a hydroelectric power plant was built for the needs of pump propulsion, which provided the city waterworks with energy to propel their pumps until nationalization in 1946. The facility was designed by V\u00fdzkumn\u00fd \u00fastav \u010derpadel (Pump Research Institute), a. s., Olomouc. The turbine station is located in the armature chamber of the water reservoirs and consists of a\u00a0set with a\u00a0radial spiral turbine with an output of 4 to 55 kW and an asynchronous generator. The small hydropower plants with automatic operation are connected to the supply pipe DN400. Unfortunately, the sets were designed for flow rates from 60 l\/s. Due to the decrease in water consumption for \u0160umperk from the Hu\u010div\u00e1 Desn\u00e1 intake area, the facility is currently out of operation.<\/p>\n\"\"<\/a>\n

Fig. 8. Small hydropower plant in the Velk\u00e9 Losiny water distribution reservoir on the project documentation<\/h6>\n

Adjusted according to [5, 7, 15].<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In July 1997, catastrophic floods occurred in Moravia, which also affected the SV\u0160 water supply infrastructure. At Hu\u010div\u00e1 Desn\u00e1, the intake facility and part of the supply line were destroyed. A\u00a0temporary solution managed to prevent the interruption of water supplies and a\u00a0project for a\u00a0new intake facility was developed. Due to the need for a\u00a0stable solution, its construction was started in the same year. Originally, the water was taken by a\u00a0side intake, which was later supplemented by a\u00a0bottom steel intake located on a\u00a0stone step. The outdated technical solution of water intake from the stream was replaced by a\u00a0bottom intake facility located 20 m above the original intake point (Fig. 9<\/em>). It is a\u00a0transverse bottom reinforced concrete sill with an intake trough, covered with screens downstream with gaps of 1 cm, which are detachable (Fig. 10).<\/p>\n\"\"<\/a>\n

Fig. 9. Intake facilities of the Kouty-\u0160umperk group water supply system on Hu\u010div\u00e1 Desn\u00e1 in the project documentation: the original destroyed facility (left), the new facility (right) [10]<\/h6>\n\"\"<\/a>\n
Fig. 10. Intake structure on Hu\u010div\u00e1 Desn\u00e1 river, state after construction in 1997 (\u0160PVS archive), current state on the right (March 2022, A. L\u00e9tal)<\/h6>\n

Thanks to sufficient investments in new sources and accumulation, conditions were created for the long-term maintenance of a\u00a0functioning water supply system. Since 2000, investments have been directed to the automation of operations and the reduction of losses. \u0160PVS annual reports show a\u00a0significant reduction in losses from 38\u00a0% in 1996 to 16\u00a0% in 2020, when they approached the national average of 15.3\u00a0% in 2020 [12]. Investment projects that helped reduce losses include the reconstruction of the infrastructure in the historic city centre in 2003, which replaced some of the original elements from 1883. In 2001, the original reservoirs HTP (1935) and DTP (1883, 1935) were renovated, including the reconstruction of the outlet pipe of the 1,000 m3 reservoir from 1935. In 2008, complete reconstruction of the water treatment plant in Kouty was carried out to an amount of approximately 95 million CZK.<\/p>\n

The population of \u0160umperk has been steadily declining since 1992, which means that, as of 1 January 2021, \u0160umperk returned to the situation around 1970. In 1989, the consumption of drinking water in \u0160umperk was 171 l\/person\/day. In 2020, the average consumption of drinking water invoiced to households, industry, and other entities in \u0160umperk reached 116.5 l\/person\/day (the national average is 129.2 l\/person\/day), while in households it was 83.2 l\/person\/day [12, 14]. In terms of future development, investments in all elements of water management infrastructure can be expected. The main priority is the reconstruction of the feeder from the water treatment plant in Kouty nad Desnou, which was started in 2021 and is divided into several stages. Pipeline repair will be done by non-excavation technology of putting the pre-deformed pipeline (close-fit technology) into the existing steel pipeline DN400 (Fig. 11<\/em>); a\u00a0part will be done by non-excavation burstlining technology, which will draw new ductile iron pipeline DN400 into the damaged existing pipeline. Completion of the reconstruction of the 25-kilometre feeder is planned within the next seven years.<\/p>\n\"\"<\/a>\n

Fig. 11. Example of the repair of the feeder using close-fit technology, implemented by Vodohospod\u00e1\u0159sk\u00fd rozvoj a v\u00fdstavba, a. s.<\/h6>\n

Changes in organization of the town waterworks management after 1945<\/h3>\n

After 1945, the municipal waterworks was part of the municipal enterprises and was located in the municipal gas works (\u017derot\u00ednova 448\/36). In 1947, the company became an independent part of the town\u2019s\u00a0enterprises. It was supervised by the council of the town\u2019s\u00a0national committee. On 1 July 1951, the Regional Water Management Services were established with the regional administration in \u0160umperk. The investment activity was managed by the water management department of the Olomouc Regional National Committee.<\/p>\n

In 1960, Krajsk\u00e1 spr\u00e1va z\u00e1sobov\u00e1n\u00ed vodou a\u00a0kanalizac\u00ed in Olomouc (with operations in \u0160umperk) was closed and new water management organizations were established within the new administrative division into districts [4]. The development of the company is summarized in Tab. 5<\/em>. The centralized management of the company ended in 1989. In 1991, an independent organization was established \u2013 Vodovody a kanalizace \u0160umperk, state enterprise. After the privatization of water companies started in the Czech Republic in 1993, two new companies were established in \u0160umperk in 1994 \u2013 Vodohospod\u00e1\u0159sk\u00e9\u00a0za\u0159\u00edzen\u00ed \u0160umperk, a. s. (VHZ), established as a\u00a0company of water management infrastructure owners (the municipalities and towns of the \u0160umperk district), and \u0160umpersk\u00e1 provozn\u00ed vodohospod\u00e1\u0159sk\u00e1 spole\u010dnost, a. s. (\u0160PVS), which is in charge of operation. In 2001, the \u0160PVS main shareholder was changed to the French-Belgian consortium SUEZ WATER, s. r. o. The biggest change in the water industry in the region since 1991 came on 27 July 2020. At the General Meeting of Vodohospod\u00e1\u0159sk\u00e1 za\u0159\u00edzen\u00ed \u0160umperk, a. s., the representatives of 28 municipalities in \u0160umperk agreed to purchase \u0160PVS shares from SUEZ GROUP. The sale of shares took place on 2 November 2020 at a\u00a0price of 94 million CZK. Funds that were paid abroad to the main shareholder in the form of an annual dividend exceeding 20 million CZK could thus be fairly invested in the infrastructure in the future.<\/p>\n

Tab.\u00a05. Changes in the management organisation of the municipal waterworks \u0160umperk<\/h5>\n\"\"<\/a>\n

Adjusted according to [4, 14].<\/p>\n

CONCLUSION<\/h2>\n

The issues with drinking water supply for \u0160umperk and the entire Desn\u00e1 river basin, which the region was struggling with, were solved in the long run by building the \u0160umperk collective water supply system, which covers 70 % of the region\u2019s needs from. The strategic water management infrastructure built in the second half of the 20th century ensures sufficient quality drinking water without significant restrictions in the future. Due to its dynamic development in the 1970s and 1980s, the town of \u0160umperk was forced to build additional sources of drinking water, which were provided by wells in the B\u011blidlo, Rapot\u00edn, and Ol\u0161any intake areas. The change in \u0160umperk demographic development after 1989, which meant a permanent decline in population, together with a slowdown in textile production and a sharp rise in water and sewerage prices, brought about a significant reduction in water consumption after almost a hundred years. Of course, this trend was also reflected in the structure of the use of water resources in favour of groundwater abstraction.
\nThe transition from a centrally planned economy to a market economy entailed, in addition to an unpleasant sharp rise in prices, an increase in the amount of funds that can be effectively invested in automation and traffic regulation, as well as in the renewal and reconstruction of existing buildings and network.
\nThe acquisition of the ownership majority from the foreign owner of the VHZ operating company in 2021 marked the beginning of a new stage in the region\u2019s water management infrastructure, ensuring fair investment in the renewal and maintenance of valuable infrastructure left to us by our predecessors.<\/p>\n\"\"<\/a>\n

Fig. 12. View of the building for the administration of the VHZ and \u0160PVZ with a\u00a0control room and facilities for service equipment (March 2022, A. L\u00e9tal)<\/h6>\n

Acknowledgements<\/h3>\n

The paper was created within the research project NAKI II \u201eHistorical water management objects, their value, function and significance for the present\u201c(DG18P02OVV019). The project was financed by \u201cNAKI II \u2013 support of applied research and experimental developments of national and cultural identity 2016\u20132022\u201dof the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic. Special thanks also go to the employees of Vodohospod\u00e1\u0159sk\u00e1 za\u0159\u00edzen\u00ed \u0160umperk, a. s., and \u0160umpersk\u00e1 provozov\u00e1 vodohospod\u00e1\u0159sk\u00e1 spole\u010dnost, a. s., for providing valuable information and materials related to the history of the \u0160umperk water industry.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the second half of the 20th century, the long-term problem of supplying the town of \u0160umperk with drinking water was finally solved. New sources of drinking water supplemented the missing capacities in the form of surface abstraction from Divok\u00e1 Desn\u00e1 within the newly built collec-tive water supply system, together with the use of sources in Rapot\u00edn and Ol\u0161any. A significant contribution to solving the problem was the recon-struction of the water supply network, water reservoir, and intake facilities, which reduced losses. An important factor that has reduced the water consumption of the population is, of course, the significant increase in water and sewerage prices in the last 20 years, which had an impact on \u0160umperk as well. The operational and organizational conditions of the town\u2019s drinking water supply were negatively affected by society-wide de-velopment, which ultimately meant an increase in operating losses in the water supply network due to limited funds for the renewal and upgrading of the water supply network. The political changes in 1989 and the following period were reflected not only in the organizational conditions of the town\u2019s drinking water supply, but also in the final consumption and price of drinking water, both in the \u0160umperk region and across the whole of the Czech Republic. With the example of \u0160umperk, it is also possible to illustrate the transformation of the water industry after 1989 and possible diffi-culties, new starting points, and challenges for its future development.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":15506,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[89,93],"tags":[2486,2538,2574,2575],"coauthors":[1486,234,1487],"class_list":["post-29879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-water-technology-water-supply-waste-water-treatment","category-two-articles","tag-drinking-water-supply","tag-sumperk","tag-water-industry","tag-water-plant"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29879"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29879\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29986,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29879\/revisions\/29986"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29879"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtei.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=29879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}