According to the MPWiK information, from 7.50 a.m. to midnight on 28 August 2019, 159,661 cubic metres of sewage was discharged into the Vistula River.

 “In connection with the ongoing failure of the sewerage collectors of the Municipal Water and Sewage Company of the Capital City of Warsaw, The Inspectors of Environmental Protection monitor the water level in the Vistula River on an ongoing basis. The samples tested thus far have already shown the first impact of discharges on the quality of water in the Vistula,” said Minister Henryk Kowalczyk during the conference.

A single sample taken from the waste water stream yesterday at 12:44 p.m. contained high levels of ammonium nitrogen – 43.7 mg/l. For comparison, the sample of water from the Vistula River above discharge, where no pollution occurs, contains less than 1 mg/l of ammonium nitrogen, and the sample of water taken from the place of discharge of sewage contains 29.5 mg/l of ammonium nitrogen.

 “We cannot say that nothing has happened. The impact of this incident may be significant. I appeal for your cooperation in this matter and urge you to take advantage of the assistance offered to remedy the impact of this incident as quickly as possible. This is in the interest of all of us, because it is about people’s health and the state of the environment,” the Minister added.

The Environmental Protection Inspectorate conducts research monitoring on the Vistula River at measurement sections located in the area of the capital city of Warsaw above and below the discharge area, as well as at other points along the flow of the Vistula River in the Mazowieckie Voivodeship.

The Ministry of Environment also cooperated with other authorities and bodies, including the National Sanitary Inspectorate and Polish Waters. In addition, the voivodeships affected by the polluted waters established crisis management teams, which involve the Voivodeship Inspectors of Environmental Protection. The situation on the Vistula River will also be monitored by the Chief Inspectorate of Environmental Protection, in cooperation with the Police, using a drone with a thermal imaging camera. Information on water quality will be provided by the National Sanitary Inspectorate, in line with its competencies.

The information provided by the MPWiK at the Crisis Management Team meeting shows that mitigating the impact of the incident may take from several weeks to several months. After technical consultations with Environmental Protection Inspectors, the team determined that there are technologies that enable the construction of a bypass for the wastewater for the Czajka Wastewater Treatment Plant, which will enable pumping out the wastewater from the channels in order to reach the site of the incident.