New central laboratories of Pražské vodovody a kanalizace (PVK) have been put into operation at the waterworks site in Prague's Podolí. They carry out round-the-clock microbiological and chemical analyses of drinking water in Prague.[1][2]
Equipment and capacity
PVK director Petr Mrkos said the new laboratories make it possible to combine proven methods with the most modern ones, to obtain more detailed information on the composition of the water and to have results within hours rather than days. Among other equipment, the laboratories have an instrument that uses artificial intelligence for faster and more accurate microbiological analyses.[1][2] Each year they process more than 50,000 samples and carry out almost 800,000 analyses of individual monitored parameters.[1][2]
Move from Dykova Street
The central laboratories were originally based in a rented building in Dykova Street, where, according to Mrkos, the lease expired and the company was looking for a permanent location for them. Other laboratory workplaces were spread over several other sites; with the move to the Podolí waterworks, they are now all in one place.[1][2]
Podolí water treatment plant
Unlike in the past, when it served as a backup source, the Podolí water treatment plant now operates continuously and supplies about a tenth of Prague's drinking water. According to Mrkos, this made it possible to introduce a third stage of treatment with activated carbon.[1][2]
PVS director Pavel Válek said that a further increase in the plant's capacity is planned for the event that the capital's other two sources of drinking water, Želivka and Káraný, fail. PVS is also preparing a study of the further development of the drinking water supply in connection with its possible shortage. The Podolí plant draws water from the Vltava, which Válek described as the most secure source thanks to the Vltava cascade.[1][2] Next year PVS is to have design documentation prepared for a tunnelled gallery from Podolí to the Flora reservoir, from where water would be distributed to other parts of Prague. According to the director, the construction is to cost two to three billion koruna.[1][2]
Chronology
- — New central laboratories of Pražské vodovody a kanalizace for drinking-water analysis have been put into operation at the waterworks in Prague's Podolí district, bringing together workplaces that had been spread across several sites; the cost was almost 152 million crowns. Pražský deník iDNES.cz, Praha
Sources
- Pražský deník
- iDNES.cz, Praha — 6 October 2026