Apart from lignite, water is the major resource used by the PGE Capital Group in the generation of electricity. Therefore, the basic principle followed by PGE is economical water management and water protection.

If it is possible, water used in electricity generation comes first of all from the lignite mines and opencast drainage operations. Surface waters constitute a supplementary source used in the event of a sudden increase in the salinity of mine waters.

In both the power plants and lignite mines belonging to the PGE Capital Group special attention is paid to the quality of surface and underground waters.
In the power plants, water is used mostly in the water-steam, cooling and thermal cycles. Water management in our lignite mines is connected with the face and sunk drainage of opencasts.

Technologies applied in our power plants allow us to acquire low waste generation and unit water consumption indexes, as well as to minimize pollutant loads included in discharged waste.

Since the start of their rock mass drainage operations, both lignite mines belonging to PGE have been active in the field of water protection. In the Bełchatów Lignite Mine, mine waters collected in excavations are drained through a system of ditches to sedimentation basins, and subsequently, after the process of treatment, deposited in the Krasowa and Widawka rivers. In the Turów Lignite Mine, treated mine waters are discharged into the Miedzianka river. Waters discharged into surface waste must represent a least class II in purity. The processes of deacidification and desulphurization of rainwater are carried out on a regular basis; their objective is to stabilise its quality with respect to reaction and sulphates at the level provided for in  environmental protection regulations.

Our lignite mines constantly monitor waters discharged into surface watercourses. We are also continuing research into the influence of the lignite mines on the quality of water in the nearby rivers.