Within an hour and a half, the responsible teams for acting in emergencies and disasters from Sofiyska Voda, the Municipality of Sofia and Sofia’s Fire Safety and Civil Protection Directorate managed to reenact a scenario of a chlorine leak, establishing of a fire and detecting and elimination of danger for the largest potable water treatment plant in the capital - Bistritsa, as well as the relevant communicating of the event and actions after submitting an alert to 112. 

It was demonstrated the taking out of a gassed employee and applying first aid to him, as well as evacuation of plant employees, firefighting, deactivation of a suspicious package and taking out of the plant management system to ensure continuity of the control of the water supply to the capital. It was also demonstrated how the processes in the treatment facilities continue to be managed remotely to guarantee continuity of the water supply and the quality of the water supplied to the city. Doncho Barbalov, Deputy Mayor of the Municipality of Sofia in charge of Finance and Healthcare took part in the drill. 

“In practice we saw a drill and a very good synchronizing between the institutions: Sofiyska Voda, the Municipality of Sofia, the Ministry of the Interior and the Fire Department,” commented Doncho Barbalov, Deputy Mayor of Sofia.   

“These drills where real-life situations are reenacted, are an integral part of the emergency plans of Sofiyska Voda AD, the company managing the critical infrastructure of the capital. They are necessary as through the Bistritsa Potable Water Treatment Plant passes the largest amount of water for the citizens of Sofia and the site is of extreme importance for the security of the city. On the territory of the plant also hazardous chemicals are stored. The simulation of all those actions shows the readiness and coordination between the responsible structures in the occurrence of a health or life-threatening situation,” explained Vasil Trenev, Executive Director of Sofiyska Voda, operated by Veolia. 

“The teams of all institutions showed fast, coordinated and adequate actions. This gives us the assurance that in an unforeseen situation we will manage to react immediately and prevent bigger danger”, added Ivo Krastev, Security Director of Sofiyska Voda, operated by Veolia.