Rapid response to Polish disaster with BBA large volume pumps

Warsaw - BBA Pumps PL delivered two large volume pumps from stock following a disaster in the Polish capital. Last week, due to a failure of a waste water system, more than three million cubic meters of sewage water flowed into the Vistula river. Responding immediately, BBA ensured that the required equipment was quickly on site and ready to start.


Beneath the Vistula river, which flows into the Baltic Sea, there is a huge tunnel housing with two discharge pipes, each 160 cm in diameter with a thick concrete floor. The first pipe delivers sewage from the left bank of the city to a treatment plant located on the right bank. The second pipe is used as reserve capacity.

Due to a still unknown cause, the pressure became too high, cracking open the first discharge pipe. The reserve pipe was then connected, but that also quickly broke. The only remaining solution was to switch to the outflow used in the “old days” when it was still common practice to dump sewage directly into the river.


The Polish authorities have issued assurances that the tap water is safe to drink and have followed up with rapid action. On Monday, 9^th of September the Polish army installed a temporary drainage pipe on pontoons in the river, ensuring that emergency pumps can still discharge waste water to the treatment plant.


On Tuesday afternoon, 10th September, BBA Pumps PL received a purchase order for the delivery of two mobile emergency pumps, BA400G and BA500G, with a total capacity of 7500 m³/hour. The pumps were available from stock at BBA Pumps Netherlands and loaded the same day onto their own trucks for delivery to the site. The installation team began setting up the mobile pumps on Wednesday evening at 7 p.m.


This temporary bypass installation will continue to operate for the next months until a new permanent solution is realized.