WABAG wins a second major order in twelve months for the wastewater plant at the Pitesti refinery

PETROM is the largest oil and gas producer in South-Eastern Europe and since 2004 has been a subsidiary of the Austrian OMV Group. In April 2008, Petrom commissioned WABAG (Austria) with the modernisation and operational management of the wastewater treatment plant at the PetroBrazi refinery in Ploiesti. One year later, Petrom has again brought in the WABAG specialists. This time for the wastewater plant at the Arpechim refinery in Pitesti, which from May 1, 2009 has been operated and maintained.

For over a year, WABAG Water Services SRL has been operating the wastewater treatment plant at the PetroBrazi refinery in Ploiesti with a workforce of around 100. At the same time, the plant has also been modernised. Now, after 12 months, the company can welcome another contract and a further 60 employees, as Petrom has commissioned WABAG with the operational management of the wastewater treatment plant at the Arpechim refinery in Pitesti, which is located some 100km west of Bucharest. As is the case with the PetroBrazi project, the local Petrom employees have been taken over by WABAG for plant operation.

The plant cleans 30,000 m³ of wastewater daily, which emanates from the refinery processes. The industrial wastewater contains high levels of oil and specific contaminants such as phenol, ammonia and hydrogen sulphide. In line with the required treatment performance, the wastewater plant has several treatment stages, which facilitate direct discharge into surface water. Following appropriate treatment 150 t/day of oil can be recycled and pumped back into refinery operations. For optimised plant management, WABAG will initiate measures for securing the availability of the plant and its safety, health and environmental standards.

During the tendering process, WABAG convinced with the best concept and high levels of professional competence. With a workforce of 160, WABAG Water Services (WWS) is the industrial market leader in Romania with regard to specialised water technology. As Dr. Gerald Leopold, the WWS CEO, remarks, “We are delighted by this follow-up order as its exemplifies the high levels of customer satisfaction and trust derived from the PetroBrazi order. We also see the contract as a spur to use our experience and know-how to an even greater extent in Romania in years to come. It is our intention to continually increase our involvement in the field of operational management of water treatment plants and undertake new assignments in the EPC sector.”    

Confidentiality was agreed with regard to the contractual value.