E3S Web of Conferences 30, 02005 (2018) https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/20183002005 Water, Wastewater and Energy in Smart Cities Sewage Management Changes in the North- eastern Poland After Accession to the European Union Szymon Skarżyński1,*, and Izabela Bartkowska2 1,2Bialystok University of Technology, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Department of Technology and Systems in Environmental Engineering, Wiejska 45A, 15-351 Bialystok, Poland Abstract. Poland's accession to the European Union contributed to the infrastructure development of the whole country. One of the elements of the modernized infrastructure is the sewage network and facilities on this network, as well as facilities for waste water treatment and disposal of sludge. A wide stream of funds flowing to the country, and consequently also to the north-eastern polish voivodeships (Podlaskie, Warmian- Masurian, Lublin), allowed modernization, organize, and sometimes to build a new sewage management of this part of the country. The main factors and parameters that allow us to evaluate the development of the sewage management in north-eastern Poland are included: percentage of population using sewage treatment plants, number of municipal sewage plants with the division of their type, number of industrial plants, number of septic tanks, amount of sewage purified in a year, amount of sludge produced in the year, design capacity of sewage treatment plant, size of plant in population equivalent (PE). From a number of investments in the field of wastewater management carried out in the discussed area in the period after Poland's accession to the European Union, 9 investments were considered the most important, 3 from each of the voivodeships. 1 Introduction Poland's accession to the European Union contributed to the infrastructure development of the whole country. One of the elements of the modernized infrastructure is the sewage network and facilities on this network, as well as facilities for sewage treatment and disposal of sludge. A wide stream of funds flowing to the country, and consequently also to the north-eastern Polish voivodeships, allowed modernization, organize, sometimes to build a new sewage management of this part of the country. 2 Characteristics of north-eastern Poland Voivodeships The definition of north-eastern Poland defines three voivodeships: the Podlaskie Voivodeship (with the seat of the authorities in Białystok), the Warmian-Masurian * Corresponding author: [email protected] © The Authors, published by EDP Sciences. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). E3S Web of Conferences 30, 02005 (2018) https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/20183002005 Water, Wastewater and Energy in Smart Cities Voivodeship (with the seat of the authorities in Olsztyn) and the Lublin Voivodeship (with the seat of the authorities in Lublin). As of 31 December 2016, the voivodeships covered by this area are inhabited by more than 4.76 million people on an area of nearly 70.000 km2, resulting in a population density of 67.8 persons/km2 [1]. Figure 1 present the location of the voivodeships on the Polish map and Table 1 presents the characteristics of each voivodeship. Figure 1. Location of the voivodeships on the Polish map. Table 1. Data characterizing chosen voivodeships and their comparison to national data [1]. Population Population Area density Voivodeship % of total % of total person km2 person/km2 country country Podlaskie 1,187,587 3.09 20,187.02 6.46 58.8 Warmian- 1,437,812 3.74 24,173.17 7.73 59.5 Masurian Lublin 2,135,715 5.56 25,122.46 8.03 85.0 Total 4,761,114 12.39 69,482.65 22.22 67.8 Poland 38,432,992 100.00 312,679.00 100.00 123.0 Analysing the above data, it can be noticed that the largest population, surface area and population density are Lublin Voivodeships, while the lowest values reach Podlaskie Voivodeship. The analysed voivodeships cover a total of nearly 12.5% of the country territory, and is inhabited by just over 22% of the population of the whole country. The population density in these voivodeships reaches 67.8 person/km2 (123.0 person/km2 in the whole country). 2.1 Podlaskie Voivodeship The Podlaskie Voivodeship is located in the north-eastern part of Poland, in the geographical center of Europe. The seat of the province authorities is Białystok. Through its center flows the river Narew. The voivodeship occupy the area of 20,187.02 km2 and is 2 E3S Web of Conferences 30, 02005 (2018) https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/20183002005 Water, Wastewater and Energy in Smart Cities Voivodeship (with the seat of the authorities in Olsztyn) and the Lublin Voivodeship (with inhabited by 1,187,587 people, giving a population density of 58.8 persons/km2. The the seat of the authorities in Lublin). As of 31 December 2016, the voivodeships covered Podlaskie Voivodeship is divided into 14 counties (consisting of 118 communes) and 3 by this area are inhabited by more than 4.76 million people on an area of nearly 70.000 cities with county status. The largest cities are Białystok (about 300 thousand inhabitants), km2, resulting in a population density of 67.8 persons/km2 [1]. Figure 1 present the location Suwałki (about 70 thousand inhabitants) and Łomża (about 63 thousand inhabitants) [1]. of the voivodeships on the Polish map and Table 1 presents the characteristics of each The voivodeship is bordered by: Belarus, Lithuania, Lublin Voivodeships, Masovian voivodeship. Voivodeships and Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship. In the voivodeships there are 4 national parks, including the oldest in Poland, Białowieża National Park, as well as the largest area, the Biebrza National Park. The other two national parks are Wigry and Narew. Protection of nature and the environment in Podlaskie Voivodeship also includes 3 landscape parks, 85 nature reserves and 2051 nature monuments [1]. 2.2 Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship The Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship is located in the north-eastern part of Poland. The seat of the voivodeship authorities is Olsztyn. The voivodeship occupy the area of 24,173.17 km2 and is inhabited by 1,437,812 people, giving a population density of 59.5 persons/km2. Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship is divided into 19 counties (consisting of 116 communes) and 2 cities with county status. The largest cities are Olsztyn (about 173 thousand inhabitants), Elbląg (about 121 thousand inhabitants) and Ełk (about 60 thousand inhabitants) [1]. Figure 1. Location of the voivodeships on the Polish map. The voivodeship is bordered by: Russia, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, Masovian Table 1. Data characterizing chosen voivodeships and their comparison to national data [1]. Voivodeship, Podlaskie Voivodeship, Pomeranian Voivodeship. From the north-west it borders the Vistula Lagoon. Protected areas in voivodeship occupy a total of 1,126,155.3 Population Population Area ha, which accounts for 46.6% of the voivodeship. In the region there are 8 landscape parks, density Voivodeship % of total % of total 110 nature reserves, 71 protected landscape areas, 2,576 natural monuments, 14 special bird person km2 person/km2 country country protection areas, 41 areas of Community importance, 297 ecological grounds, 18 natural- landscape teams and one documentation stand [1]. Podlaskie 1,187,587 3.09 20,187.02 6.46 58.8 Warmian- 1,437,812 3.74 24,173.17 7.73 59.5 Masurian 2.3 Lublin Voivodeship Lublin 2,135,715 5.56 25,122.46 8.03 85.0 Lublin Voivodeship is located in the northern part of Poland. The seat of the voivodeship 2 Total 4,761,114 12.39 69,482.65 22.22 67.8 authorities is Lublin. The voivodeship occupy the area of 25,122.46 km and is inhabited by 2,133,340 people, giving a population density of 85.0 persons/km2. Lublin Voivodeship Poland 38,432,992 100.00 312,679.00 100.00 123.0 is divided into 20 counties (consisting of 213 communes) and 4 cities with county status. The largest cities are Lublin (about 340 thousand inhabitants), Zamość (about 65 thousand inhabitants), Chełm (about 64 thousand inhabitants) and Biała Podlaska (about 57 thousand Analysing the above data, it can be noticed that the largest population, surface area and inhabitants) [1]. population density are Lublin Voivodeships, while the lowest values reach Podlaskie The voivodeship is located between the Vistula and the Bug River and borders with the Voivodeship. The analysed voivodeships cover a total of nearly 12.5% of the country Belarus, Ukraine, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, Podlaskie Voivodeship, Masovian territory, and is inhabited by just over 22% of the population of the whole country. 2 2 Voivodeship and Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. Lublin Voivodeship there are two national The population density in these voivodeships reaches 67.8 person/km (123.0 person/km parks (Polesie National Park, Roztocze National Park), 17 landscape parks, 87 nature in the whole country). reserves, 1,513 nature monuments, 7 documentation stands, 267 ecological grounds and 7 natural-landscape teams [1]. 2.1 Podlaskie Voivodeship The Podlaskie Voivodeship is located in the north-eastern part of Poland, in the geographical center of Europe. The seat of the province authorities is Białystok. Through its center flows the river Narew. The voivodeship occupy the area of 20,187.02 km2 and is 3 E3S Web of Conferences 30, 02005 (2018) https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/20183002005 Water, Wastewater and Energy in Smart Cities 3 Parameters of sewage management in the north-eastern Voivodeships of Poland The main factors and parameters that allow us to evaluate the development of the sewage management in north-eastern Poland are presented in table 2. All data was obtained from the Local Data Bank provided by the Central Statistical Office.