LEADER TEXT: CARL-EMIL LARSEN/ PHOTO: DANVA Wastewater heat pumps take heat production to a new level W ater companies act efficiently and create value for households and industry. This document shows the water sector's key figures compiled by DANVA in Water in figures 2019. We will also review relevant topics including how water companies are starting to use water as hydroelectric expenses. The total annual cost of drinking water and wastewater is € 771 for an average family. The average water price has increased by only 0.94% from € 9.23 to € 9.32. It is less than the general net price trend for society as a whole, which from 2017 to 2018 increased by more than 1%. related to last year's hot summer in Denmark, when the water companies experienced more ruptures than usual as a result of the soil being affected by the heat and creating more stress around the water pipes that caused several ruptures and resulted in water loss. The key figures also show that Danes have power plants to generate CO2-neutral energy, which benefit consumers and the Danish climate change plan. For example, Kalundborg Forsyning's new heat pumps pull heat out of the wastewater, giving a net energy gain of just under 8 kWh per m3 of water sold through consumers. Morsø Forsyning has installed a heat pump on their water tower that produces heat for the district heating network while drinking water is cooled 3-4 degrees before it is delivered to consumers. The use of wastewater and drinking water has been turbocharged to create electricity, gas and heat in the Danish water sector. There is tremendous potential in the methods the Danish water companies are using, which can not only help meet Denmark's ambitious target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 70% by 2030, but can also create a market-leading asset in the export market. The Danish water companies act on their own accord to reach ambitious goals and provide their core services at stable prices, which means that a household's water costs represent only 1.4% of an average household's annual Moreover, the small change in the price trend has to be seen in the context of the implementation of the "Three-Step Tariffs Model, which led to cheaper wastewater prices for large consumers, and was during 2018 fully phased in. As a consequence of the discount scheme for major consuming industries, the average water price for the ordinary citizen in 2018 was 4.7% higher than if the Three-Step Tariffs Model had not been introduced. Another anomaly in the year's key figures is that for the first time in many years, Danes used more water than the previous year. As is widely known, Denmark was hit by massive drought in the summer of 2018. High evaporation rates meant that the Danes filled their swimming pools and watered their gardens more than usual. On the other hand, in 2017 Danes broke the water conservation record, using only 103 litres on average a day; in 2018 that figure increased to 105 litres. Denmark is the world leader in low water loss. 7.22% of drinking water did not reach customers in 2017. That figure had increased to 8.05% in 2018. This increase can also be access to tap water almost 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. Danes, on average, are without access to water for only 35 minutes out of the 525,600 minutes in the year, which means they have access to water 99.99% of the time. In other words, the water companies act optimally and exactly as dictated by the policy coming down from Christiansborg, the Danish Parliament. Therefore, it would be logical to prioritize the easing of the bureaucratic burden on the water sector, which devotes considerable resources to comply with documentation from authorities. If the tariffs are reasonable, the targets are met, and water customers are satisfied, politicians should work to create a less zealous, resource-dependent bureaucratic system, which, after all, results in nothing but higher costs and higher water prices. Water and wastewater are one of the most important foundations of our societal structure. This responsibility will not decrease in the future. DANVA's benchmarking shows that the water companies, with their targeted, efficient management, fully meet the expectations of customers, authorities and regulators. DANVA and DANVA Benchmarking DANVA, the Danish Water and Wastewater Association, is an industry organisation for drinking water and wastewater companies in Denmark. DANVA is a non-profit association, funded by its members and through commercial activities. DANVA has been offering benchmarking to its members for almost 20 years. Benchmarking is a tool to provide an overview of the company's performance and to identify areas where efficiency can be improved. The reporting to DANVA 2 WATER IN FIGURES 2019 Benchmarking and DANVA Statistics form the basis for the preparation of this publication. In total, 157 drinking water and wastewater companies have participated in the reporting to Water in figures 2019, with data from 2018. The participating drinking water companies collectively supply water to 60% of the Danish population. Collectively, the participating wastewater companies receive and process water from 80% of the Danish population. WATER IN FIGURES 2019 DANVA STATISTICS & BENCHMARKING Denmark LEADER TEXT: CARL-EMIL LARSEN/ PHOTO: DANVA Wastewater heat pumps take heat production to a new level W ater companies act efficiently and create value for households and industry. This document shows the water sector's key figures compiled by DANVA in Water in figures 2019. We will also review 105 WATER CONSUMPTION litres is the average amount of water a person uses per day in the household. Selected rules, national plans and reforms that have had an impact on the price and water consumption of a family: 1987: Environmental Plan for Water I the plan was intended to protect the aquati WATER PRICE How much does water cost? The price of water is not the same throughout the country. On the one hand, there are structural differences such as geological conditions, different customer bases and large differences in investment needs, and on the other hand, price composition may vary fro PHOTO: COLOURBOX WATER PRICE Information about water prices How much does water cost? The price of water depends on which water company you are affiliated with. Contact your local water company to get your water prices. On average, a litre of water costs 0.93 cents. What does the water price cons WATER PRICE PHOTO: HERNING VAND Water price composition 6 WATER IN FIGURES 2019 Amount for drinking water 3,14 €/m3 water and wastewater, the distribution is as follows: The treatment and supply of clean drinking water includes groundwater protection, treatment and supply of drinking water. T PHOTO: COLOURBOX WATER PRICE AVERAGE HOUSEHOLD COSTS FOR WATER, 2007 - 2018 €/m3 (2018 price) 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 2007 2008 Drinking water 2009 2010 Wastewater 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 VAT and taxes The estimate is for an average family of 2.15 people wi WATER PRICE Debt in the water sector Water companies (drinking and wastewater companies) have to take loans more often when investing in new plants, pipelines and other assets than if it is up to the authorities. It is also evident from the graph below that the debt of water companies with KommuneK WATER PRICE THREE-STEP TARIFFS MODEL, 2018 Million m3 water sold in the sewerage catchment area LEVEL 2 Water consumption: 500 m3-20,000 m3 The cubic metre tariff is LEVEL 3 Water consumption: Over 20,000 m 3 The cubic metre tariff is 2014 4% lower than level 1 12% lower than level 1 2015 8% l WATER IN FIGURES 2019 TEXT: JESPER WITH, JOURNALIST/ PHOTO: COLOURBOX After the court case on taxation of water and wastewater companies: More than € 134 millions is on its way back to the water and wastewater companies After a nearly 10-year fight, DANVA and the water and wastewater companies won WATER IN FIGURES 2019 etc. This value has an impact on the ability of companies to make depreciations and therefore on the amount of tax they are required to pay. But since the water wastewater companies are break-even companies, in principle they do not generate profits, nor have they ever been tr WATER IN FIGURES 2019 PHOTO: TREFOR VAND The Danish water sector All drinking water in Denmark comes exclusively from groundwater, with the exception of a small desalination plant on Christiansø. In 2016, the total pumped water volume for public waterworks was 373 million m3/year 1 ), with DANVA m WATER IN FIGURES 2019 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT The following economic development graphs include all drinking water and wastewater companies covered under the Danish Water Sector Act and which have a charged water volume over 800,000 m3. ACTUAL OPERATING COST DRINKING WATER ACTUAL OPERATING COST WAS BENCHMARKING DRINKING WATER DRINKING WATER COMPANIES in DANVA Statistics & Benchmarking In 2019, 67 drinking water companies reported data to DANVA Statistics & Benchmarking. The figures shown apply to 2018. Together, the companies have more than 1,750 water abstraction wells, comprising 154 catchm BENCHMARKING DRINKING WATER ACTUAL OPERATING COSTS, 2018 0 be invested over the next 2 years, where the forecast for 2019 is a 30% increase compared to the 2018 level. The distribution between costs and investments In 2018, drinking water companies spent 33% of their actual operating costs on wat BENCHMARKING DRINKING WATER PHOTO: VANDCENTER SYD The water loss curve takes a hit due to last summer's drought The Danish drinking water companies can be characterised as having a very low level of water loss in the pipelines. For the 50-52 drinking water companies that have participated in DANVA BENCHMARKING DRINKING WATER SHARE OF REMOTE METER READING The number of remotely read meters is steadily increasing The water companies' switch from the manual reading of water meters to remotely read meters provides solid data for the detection of leakage and reliable calculations of water consum BENCHMARKING DRINKING WATER PHOTO: COLOURBOX NON-REVENUE WATER (WATER LOSS), 2018 m3/km/day Non-Revenue water (water loss) Drinking water companies' calculation of water loss, also known as non-revenue water shows significant differences between companies. The companies' rankings depend on the me PHOTO: AARHUS VAND A/S BENCHMARKING DRINKING WATER Infrastructure Leak Index (ILI) The real water loss can be more accurately calculated and compared through the calculation of the Infrastructure Leak Index (ILI). It is an international water loss performance indicator developed by the Internation WATER IN FIGURES TEXT: JESPER WITH, JOURNALIST/ PHOTO: TREFOR VAND AND COLOURBOX DNA ANALYSIS provides new opportunities in water supply TREFOR Vand has used a new method that, through DNA analysis, can quickly find leaks where tree roots have found their way into a drinking water line. This save XXX ness experiences. They reviewed the pictures and found 10 possible willow trees of which 3 could be the source of the penetrating tree root. So TREFOR Vand sent samples of the three willow trees for new DNA analyses. Only one tree matched all the parameters. It was found on the first try All w BENCHMARKING DRINKING WATER Availability to customers works so that the water supply's down time to consumers is as short as possible. They can also notify consumers via an SMS notification, or the like, to minimise the inconvenience of not having water in the tap. Security of supply, ensuring th BENCHMARKING DRINKING WATER Self-arising bursts in the pipeline network or house/building connections, where the pipelines age, pipe material, drilling saddles, geology and the quality of work performed are often the cause of the burst. Bursts due to external conditions, where the burst is often BENCHMARKING DRINKING WATER from the waterworks to the customer's water meter. The bulk of the pipeline belongs to the water company. The last few meters from the property boundary to the water meter, called the ground line, are owned by the landowner. The 74 companies participating in DANVA Statis BENCHMARKING DRINKING WATER results from the accredited analyses show that, based on 13,906 samples, 98.9% of the microbiological control samples taken fall within the threshold limits for all quality requirements. If only one analytical parameter on a water sample exceeds the quality requirements, WATER IN FIGURES 2019 TEXT: JESPER WITH, JOURNALIST/ PHOTO: VANDCENTER SYD VandCenter Syd: The aim is absolute sustainability VandCenter Syd (VCS Denmark) is the first Danish water company to carry out an absolute sustainability assessment that takes into account a wide range of possible environm WATER IN FIGURES 2019 a lot of ethical dilemmas. However, we are now utilising the assessment in our strategy process, in which we set our long-term goals. The analysis has let us know several things that we were not previously aware of. For example, we learned that methane emissions from our sewer WATER IN FIGURES 2019 28 WATER IN FIGURES 2019 PHOTO: COLOURBOX WATER IN FIGURES 2019 IT Y QUAL N ATIO EDUC HIPS PARTNERS E TO ACHIEV THE GOAL CLIMATE ACTION SU S AN TAIN D C AB OM LE MU CIT NI IES TIE S More and more Danish water and wastewater companies are using the sustainable development goals (SDGs) as a framework for creating better results for the env BENCHMARKING WASTEWATER WASTEWATER COMPANIES in DANVA Statistics and Benchmarking In 2019, 87 wastewater companies reported data to DANVA Statistics and Benchmarking. The reported figures are for 2018. Together, the companies provide services to approximately 4.99 million people and operate 471 tre BENCHMARKING WASTEWATER ACTUAL OPERATING COSTS, 2018 to invest due to economic regulation, even though there are a large number of climate investments that should be implemented. Breakdown of expenditure and investment Wastewater companies spend, on average, 34% of their actual operating costs on BENCHMARKING WASTEWATER FOCUS ON DISCHARGE FROM OVERFLOW SPILLWAYS There is an increased focus on discharge from overflow spillways on wastewater companies combined sewerage, and the new government is also announcing actions to improve the knowledge regarding overflow. The governments goal is to im BENCHMARKING WASTEWATER report's statement that the reservoir volume of the combined sewers has risen (15%) even though the area has been reduced. Separate sewerage Wastewater companies may choose to expand the existing combined sewer network with larger pipelines and wastewater basins in order to BENCHMARKING WASTEWATER Energy consumed by the wastewater companies The consumption of energy by wastewater companies is divided into energy consumption in the transport network and energy consumption at the wastewater treatment plants, respectively. This has been done in order to produce appropria PHOTO: AARHUS VAND A/S NET AND GROSS ENERGY FOR TREATMENT, 2018 Kalundborg BIOFOS LYN VCS Aalborg Vejle Aarhus Vand Horsens Fredericia DINForsyning Randers Hørsholm Herning Køge Mariagerfj. AquaDjurs Billund Kerteminde Sønderborg Odder Fr. Havn Rudersdal Skanderborg Hjørring Lolland Syddjurs Bornho WATER IN FIGURES 2019 TEXT: ANNELINE HØJRUP/ PHOTO: MORSØ FORSYNING AND KALUNDBORG FORSYNING HEAT PUMPS provide new energy to the water sector HANS-MARTIN FRIIS MØLLER CEO, KALUNDBORG FORSYNING VILLY KRISTENSEN OPERATIONS MANAGER NYKØBING VANDVÆRK M orsø Forsyning and Kalundborg Forsyning are WATER IN FIGURES 2019 We maintain our budgets, and the fact that we can sell surplus heat from the wastewater means that the cost of wastewater treatment is reduced. In this way, the heat pump is of benefit to both the businesses and the citizens of Kalundborg. Heat pump provides colder drinking w BENCHMARKING WASTEWATER Need for new solutions to remove extraneous water Extraneous water is present, to varying degrees, among the various wastewater companies. Conditions such as the origin of the sewerage system, groundwater level, soil conditions, rainfall and the state of the sewerage system Loads at the wastewater treatment plants BENCHMARKING WASTEWATER PHOTO: VANDCENTER SYD There is a very large variation in the organic matter content of the wastewater flowing to the wastewater treatment plants. Companies such as slaughterhouses or breweries emit large quantities of organic matter BENCHMARKING WASTEWATER Wastewater companies' treatment of sludge When the Danes wastewater has been led to a treatment plant, treated and subsequently discharged to a recipient, the companies are left with the biological sludge, which is a surplus product from the treatment. The sludge treatment a PHOTO: COLOURBOX waste. The sewage companies costs for treating sludge in the treatment plants represent approximately 15% of the total operating costs of the wastewater treatment plants. Sludge disposal As a rule, dewatered sludge is disposed of in one of three categories: Sewage sludge that can DRINKING WATER: BASIC DATA AND KEY FIGURES DRINKING WATER COMPANIES THAT PARTICIPATED IN BENCHMARKING AND STATISTICS 2019 BASIC DATA (DATA FOR 2018) Company Arwos Vand A/S Assens Vandværk A/S Billund Drikkevand A/S Bornholms Energi & Forsyning A/S Brønderslev Vand A/S Inhabitants in the supply DRINKING WATER: BASIC DATA AND KEY FIGURES PROCESS BENCHMARKING (MAIN KEY FIGURES) Actual operating costs for production, distribution, customer management and general administration in relation to the sold volume of water flow Operating costs of production of water produced at own waterworks Ope DRINKING WATER: BASIC DATA AND KEY FIGURES DRINKING WATER COMPANIES THAT PARTICIPATED IN BENCHMARKING AND STATISTICS 2019 BASIC DATA (DATA FOR 2018) Inhabitants in the supply area Total quantity of water sold Boreholes (water catchment area) persons m3/year number Lyngby-Taarbæk Vand A/S 5 DRINKING WATER: BASIC DATA AND KEY FIGURES PROCESS BENCHMARKING (MAIN KEY FIGURES) Actual operating costs for production, distribution, customer management and general administration in relation to the sold volume of water flow Operating costs of production of water produced at own waterworks Ope WASTEWATER: BASIC AND KEY WASTEWATER COMPANIES THAT PARTICIPATED IN BENCHMARKING AND STATISTICS 2019 (DATA FOR 2018) Company BASIC DATA Inhabitants in the catchment area Sewer system (wastewater and rainwater) Amount of water sold in catchment area Treatment plant over 30 PE Inflow volume to WASTEWATER: BASIC AND KEY PROCESS BENCHMARKING (MAIN KEY FIGURES) Actual operating costs for transport, treatment, customer management, and general administration compared to sold volume of water Operating costs to sewer system related to the amount of water sold in the sewerage catchment area Op WASTEWATER: BASIC AND KEY WASTEWATER COMPANIES THAT PARTICIPATED IN BENCHMARKING AND STATISTICS 2019 (DATA FOR 2018) Company Kalundborg Spildevandsanlæg A/S BASIC DATA Inhabitants in the catchment area Sewer system (wastewater and rainwater) Amount of water sold in catchment area Treatment pl WASTEWATER: BASIC AND KEY PROCESS BENCHMARKING (MAIN KEY FIGURES) Actual operating costs for transport, treatment, customer management, and general administration compared to sold volume of water Operating costs to sewer system related to the amount of water sold in the sewerage catchment area Op WASTEWATER: BASIC AND KEY PHOTO: SAMN FORSYNING WASTEWATER COMPANIES THAT PARTICIPATED IN BENCHMARKING AND STATISTICS 2019 (DATA FOR 2018) Company Svendborg Spildevand A/S BASIC DATA Inhabitants in the catchment area Sewer system (wastewater and rainwater) Amount of water sold in catchment ar WASTEWATER: BASIC AND KEY PROCESS BENCHMARKING (MAIN KEY FIGURES) Actual operating costs for transport, treatment, customer management, and general administration compared to sold volume of water Operating costs to sewer system related to the amount of water sold in the sewerage catchment area Op KEY FIGURES DANVA, Dansk Vand- og Spildevandsforening (the Danish Water and Wastewater Association), is a national industry and stakeholder organisation for Denmarks drinking water and wastewater companies. Read more about us at www.danva.dk Information Water in Figures is published by: DANVA, Go