Where does Bytom get water from?

Where does
Bytom get water
from?
Bytom, like
several other towns
in Upper Silesia,
gets drinking water
from Goczałkowice
Lake . The lake is
located in the
south of our region,
about 55 km from
our city.
Through a
system of water
pipes, water is
carried to towns in
Upper Silesia. It is
the biggest watersupply service in
Poland. It supplies
water to 66 towns
and villages in the
region and to about
3.4 mln inhabitants.
The water from the lake undergoes some
necessary purification processes at special waterworks
so that water conforms to high quality standards.
Because the water is supplied to houses, you can’t do
water sports or take a bath in the lake.
Quality of
water in Bytom
In order to check the quality of water in Bytom,
our class took part in laboratory workshops
organised at the Department of Chemistry at
Silesian University in Katowice.
We examined
some samples
of water to see
how hard the
water is.
Hard water contains ions of calcium and magnesium
which can form mineral deposits on cooking dishes,
dishwashers, water heaters or boilers.
If these deposits
build up, they reduce the
efficiency of heat transfer
and some parts and pipes
must be replaced more
often in dishwashers and
washing machines.
During the tests we
carried out in the
laboratory, it turned out
that water in Bytom is
soft and of good quality.
Bottled water
or tap water?
Polish people aren’t used to drinking
tap water. We usually associate it
with chlorine. We always boil it
before drinking and generally tend to
buy bottled water.
However, recent
research carried by
different laboratories
show that tap water in
our region is as good
and safe as bottled
water. Waterworks use
modern technology to
purify it, it undergoes
strict tests and
conforms to even
higher standards than
bottled water.
Tap water is fit for human consumption but it
will take some time to persuade people to drink it.