AQUATIM S.A. 300081 Timisoara, str. Gheorghe Lazar nr. 11/A tel.: 0256 201 370, fax: 0256 294 753 www.aquatim.rotext: Loredana Leordean, Crenguta Radosavtranslation: Loredana Leordeangraphic concept: Alina Gutuleaccover: Loredana Tirzioruphoto: AQUATIM, Alin Zelenco

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General Director’s foreword

At a glance

Drinking water

Waste water

Financial report

Development

Customer relations

Social responsibility

Contents

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GENERAL DIRECTOR’S FOREWORD

An anniversary year

2012 had a special significance for Aquatim because on October 26 we celebrated one hundred years from the commissioning of the first waste water treatment plant from Romania. This put Timișoara in a hall of fame as far as the modern urban water management systems are concerned. The waste water treatment plant in 1912, the water treatment plant in 1914, and subsequently, the first water and sewerage company from the country were all achievements of Stan Vidrighin, a talented engineer, who later became a prominent figure of his time.

In October we celebrated among friends the anniversary of the WWTP. We paid a special tribute to Stan Vidrighin who was closely involved in this project from the design stage to the supervision of works and the plant was renamed in his honour.

I have always been aware of the importance of the legacy that Vidrighin passed to us. Time proved the sustainabi-lity of his project, since many generations benefited from it. A century ago, Stan Vidrighin managed to find the right path to the sustainable development of the city, a path that met the needs of the present and did not compromise the needs of the future.

By all company’s considerable achievements – metering, the new city’s waste water treatment plant with advanced technology and the implementation of automatic process control at the water treatment plants – we have tried to keep up with the spirit of technical innovation and pioneering that defined the beginning of the modern water and waste water management systems in Timișoara.

Aquatim’s investment projects, approaching two hundred million Euros, some already completed, some still in progress, were all planned to serve this generation as well as the next ones. Bearing this in mind, I believe I can say we performed up to the expectations of our predecessors.

This report presents a summary of our activity in 2012. The status of the regional investment programme financed from European funds, the innovative technologies to be tested in recently launched projects, the financial results and our presence in the community are several such key references. The specific benchmarking performance indicators place us among the first water and sewerage companies in Romania and are a guarantee of the fact that we can serve our customers with efficiency in the future as well.

Ilie Vlaicu, PhD

General Director

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AT A GLANCE

Aquatim ensures the provision of water supply and waste water collection services and is a regional operating company since 2010. At the end of 2012, the area of supply included the city of Timișoara and 71 localities throughout the county - 8 towns, 28 communes and 35 villages. Five subsidiaries were established in Buziaș, Deta, Făget, Jimbolia and Sânnicolau Mare in order to ensure an efficient operation in the county.

Starting with September 1, 2012, the tariffs for the supplied services for the entire area of operation are 2.83 lei/cm 0.0028 RON/l for water and 2.58 lei/cm 0,0026 lei/l for waste water, VAT included. At the end of 2012 the company occupied the 36th position out of 39 operators in a national top, with one of the lowest water prices.

At December 31, 2012 Aquatim had 905 employees and the managing team consisted of: Ilie Vlaicu – General Director, Adriana Angheluș – Development Director, Rozalia Giuchici – Economic Director, Petru Hidiș – Operation Director and Nicolae Ghelsingher – Tehnical Director. The Board of Directors had the following componency: Sandor Rapolti – Chairman, Aurelia Junie, Carmen Popescu, Sorin Belei, Iancu Canea, Aurelian Novac, Voichiţa Matei, Lucian Uţă and Ilie Vlaicu - members.

Operating licence and integrated management system

Aquatim is a licensed operator for the water and sewerage services in the Timiș county. The licence issued by the National Regulating Authority for Public Utility Community Services in 2011, valid for 5 years, certifies that the organisation has the technical capacity, proper equipment and qualified human resources to perform its services.

The company has implemented since 2005 a quality, environment, health and occupational safety integrated management system, for its line of business. The system is certified by the Romanian Society for Quality Assurance (SRAC), according to the provisions of ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 specifications. A SRAC surveillance audit was performed in April 2012. Subsequently, the integrated management system certification was maintained. The quality, environment, health and occupational safety certificates are valid till 2014.

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25 %

75 %

Water treatment and supply

The water supply in Timișoara and 26 neighbouring localities is coordinated by the Water Department of the company, based in Timișoara and the population served is of 344,101 inhabitants, out of which 98% represents the population from the city. The localities for which the provision of the water supply services is also coordinated from Timișoara are the town Recaș, the communes Ghiroda, Pișchia, Fibiș, Mașloc, Bogda, Săcălaz, Giulvăz, Sânmihaiu Român, Şag, Moșniţa Nouă and 14 villages. The water supply in the rest of localities from the area of operation lies in the responsibility of the five subsidiaries, from the towns of Buziaş, Deta, Făget, Jimbolia and Sânnicolau Mare.

Safe water for Timişoara

In Timişoara the water is delivered from three treatment plants, Bega, Urseni and Ronaţ, and comes from the Bega river and 120 deep and medium-depth drills. The surface source capacity available for Timișoara is of 1,400 l/s, and the ground sources capacity, available for Timișoara and other 20 localities is of 560 l/s. When establishing the water supply strategy for a city, safety comes first. In Timișoara, the water sources are safe, respectively sufficient and of adequate quality. There are additional treatment plants in Mașloc, Pișchia, Bogda and Şag and the capacity of the seven plants mentioned is between 2.8 l/s and 1,364 l/s.

In all subsidiaries the water supply is ensured exclusively from ground sources. The treatment plants use various technologies, as required by the source quality. It is worth to mention the treatment plant in Jimbolia, rehabilitated through a European financed programme and commissioned in 2010. The applied treatment technology is modern and includes ozonification, filtration and chlorination.

Several key figures illustrating the water supply in 2012 are presented in Table 1.

DRINKING WATER

Invoiced water amount, cm

Length of supply network, km Water connections Metering

Timişoara and neighbouring localities

22,054,507, total21,299,417, Timișoara 852 30,653, total

23,891, Timișoara96,3%, total

100%, Timișoara

Buziaș 510,630 154 4,255 95%Deta 628,988 152 4,965 90%Făget* 187,106 75 1,878 98%Jimbolia 756,860 155 6,741 83%Sânnicolau Mare 752,611 117 4,218 93%

Table 1: Water supply in the Timiș county

*The figures refer only to the town of Făget, not to the entire subsidiary

- River Bega

- Water drills

Water sources in Timișoara

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In addition to these key figures, we submit herewith some other relevant information. In Timişoara, the service coverage rate is of 98%, and in the mentioned localities this is between 32.5% and 46.3%. In Timişoara, the household connections raised in 2012 by 2.8%, and the coverage rate increased by 1.3% as compared to 2011.

The specific energy consumption in Timişoara was of 0.2541 kWh/cm. In 2012, the total invoiced amount dropped by 1.3%, as compared to 2011, due to the financial crisis. The amount invoiced to businesses and institutions decreased by 1.6% and the amount invoiced to population reduced by 1.4%. However, in the neighbouring localities the invoiced amount increased by 4.3%, as a result of metering and a raising number of customers. In Buziaş, Deta and Sânnicolau Mare the invoiced water amount has increased, while in Jimbolia there has been a slight decrease.

Aquatim runs corrective and preventive maintenance programmes in order to ensure the proper operation of the water supply system. The 2012 preventive maintenance programme of the drinking water network covered the inspection of 104 km of pipes in Timişoara, while the corrective maintenance included 2,562 pipe repairs and the replacement of 152 household connections. In the neighbouring localities 634 pipe repairs took place.

Monitoring and control of drinking water quality

The water quality is continuously monitored, from the treatment process up to the customers’ taps. There are three levels of control: automatic process flow monitorization and adjustment of parameters, laboratory quality tests and monitoring of the supply system. In the laboratories, over 20 quality parameters are tested on a daily basis, before the water is pumped into the city’s distribution network. Throughout the supply system, samples collected from 32 locations, commonly agreed upon with the Public Health Inspectorate, are checked on a weekly basis. The summary of the monitoring programme of the water quality is published monthly on the company’s website and the average 2012 values of the monitored parameters are given in Table 2.

The water testing laboratory is certified by RENAR, the Romanian Accreditation Association, since 2011 and is registered in the Ministry’s of Health Registrar for the drinking water quality monitoring facilities. The certification necessitated compliance with several requirements related to facilities, equipment and performance. Therefore, the laboratory participated each year in international inter-laboratory comparison exercises, called proficiency testing schemes. In 2012, Aquatim laboratory was involved in two proficiency testing schemes for drinking water (physical, chemical and microbiological tests) and one scheme for waste water (physical and chemical tests). All results obtained were very good.

Chemical and microbiological parameters

Accepted value, as per regulations U.M.

Average measured

value

1 Aluminium 0.20 mg/l 0.06

2 Ammonia 0.50 mg/l 0.05

3 Free residual chlorine 0.1 ÷ 0.5 mg/l 0.5

4 Conductivity 2,500 µS/cm 371

5 Total hardness minimum 5 °G 7

6 Iron 0.20 mg/l 0.04

7 Manganese 0.05 mg/l 0.01

8 Chemical oxygen demand 5 mg O2/l 1

9 Nitrate 50 mg/l 2

10 Nitrite 0.50 mg/l 0.01

11 pH 6.5 ÷ 9.5 pH units 7.3

12 Turbidity ≤ 5 UNT 1

13 Total coliforms 0 no./100 ml 0

14 Faecal streptococci 0 no./100 ml 0

15 Escherichia coli 0 no./100 ml 0

Table 2: Compliance with the drinking water quality standards, water distribution system, Timișoara

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WASTE WATER

Timișoara Ghiroda Moșniţa RecașLength of streets, km 562.5 22 13 38Length of the sewerage network, km 537.4 20.88 8.1 4.5Service coverage rate, % 95.5 94.9 62 11.8Population connected to the sewerage system, % 96.9 29.9 1.1 2.7

Table 3. Sewerage systems in Timișoara and neighbouring localities

Waste water collection and treatment

In Timișoara the 537.4 km long combined sewerage system collects the waste water and storm water. The neighbouring localities that had an operating sewerage system at the end of 2012 are Ghiroda, Moșniţa and Recaș. The waste water management in these localties is coordinated from the department based in Timișoara. The rest of the localities are managed by the subsidiaries. We submit herewith some relevant data referring to the sewerage systems of the aforesaid localities.

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There are 36 pumping stations in these localities, as follows: 18 – Timișoara, 12 – Ghiroda, 6 – Moșniţa. In 2012, the pumped water amount was of 5,897,940 cm. The pumping stations in Timișoara raise some problems because household and street wastes are dumped here and damage the pumps or hinder the proper operation of the sewerage system. Aquatim addressed this issue by giving more consideration to the environmental education. To raise people’s awareness on waste water the company opened the doors of the WWTP in Timișoara for visitors on various occasions. The message towards customers was clear: the toilet or the storm drains are not for dumping trash!

The lengths of the sewerage networks from the subsidiaries are as follows: Buziaș – 25.33 km, Deta – 45.20 km, Făget – 13.22 km, Jimbolia - 8.70 km, Sânnicolau Mare – 30.15 km.

Combined vacuum and jetting cleaners are used for the maintenance of the sewer lines. The preventive maintenance programme summary included the cleaning of 79 sewers and 4,736 storm drains. Some repair works relevant figures include the fixing of 7,480 clogged sewers, the replacement of 46 storm drains, 34 collapsed or damaged sewer connections and 390 manhole lids.

State-of-the-art waste water treatment plant in Timişoara

The waste water treatment plant’s full rehabilitation was completed 2011. The present technology includes a biological treatment phase with a nitrification-denitrification process and the chemical treatment for the removal of phosphor. An amount of 42,105,54 cm of waste water entered the treatment plant in 2012. Out of this, 93% represented household streams, 5% storm water and 2% first flush runoffs. The maximum flow rate entering the plant in 2012 was of 20,039 l/s. The amount of sludge processed in 2012 was of 239,911 cm. The operating parameters are indicated in Table 4.

Companies discharching industrial urban waste water are closely watched

Since 2003 Aquatim has been involved in a monitoring programme of the industrial waste water discharges into the sewerage system in Timișoara. Samples collected from the monitored companies are tested on a monthly basis in Aquatim’s water quality control laboratory. The monitoring programme revealed that 26 companies failed last year to comply with the discharge limits laid down by the NTPA 002/2005 specifications. As a consequence, 30 penalties and 158 notifications were issued.

The subsidiaries run the same monitoring programme, but the number of companies discharging industrial urban waste water is very low. Only 16 companies are subject to monitoring. Large scale investments in the development of waste water facilities in the region will commence in 2013. Therefore Aquatim’s employees have planned to develop closer contacts with each monitored company and start a visiting programme with the industrial customers in order to raise their environmental awareness.

Indicator Influent stream value, mg/l

Effluent stream value, mg/l

Accepted value*, mg/l Efficiency, %

Biochemical oxygen demand, BOD 150 8 25 95Chemical oxygen demand, COD 350 35 125 90Suspended solids 150 <10 35 95Ammonia 38 7 10 82Phosphor 5 0.8 1 84

Table 4. Operating parameters of the Timișoara waste water treatment plant

* in accordance with NTPA 001/2005 specification.

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FINANCIAL REPORT

2010 2011 2012

Fixed assets 258,453,844 262,865,494 130,937,598

Current assets 64,902,396 80,648,740 107,507,015

Net current assets 46,512,569 61,855,573 90,472,607

Amounts due aft er more than 1 year (EBRD loan) 32,667,872 32,178,852 29,369,025

Total capital 116,966,252 122,308,125 134,238,271

A. Own capital: 116,966,252 122,308,125 134,238,271

Patrimony 85,193,100 85,193,100 85,193,100

Reevaluation reserve 3,542,333 3,246,816 4,298,187

Reserves 23,251,446 28,894,136 34,843,869

Income 5,340,613 5,341,873 10,604,939

B. Public patrimony 0 0 0

Profit Loss Account

2010 2011 2012

Operating revenues 83,594,002 95,048,219 110,880,901

Operating expenses 77,105,087 87,930,370 96,995,301

Operating income 6,488,915 7,117,849 13,885,600

Financial revenues 4,440,122 4,082,550 3,446,435

Financial expenses 4,504,064 4,395,380 4,395,552

Financial income -63,942 -312,830 -949,117

Total revenues 88,034,124 99,130,769 114,327,336

Total expenses 81,609,151 92,325,750 101,390,853

Income before tax 6,424,973 6,805,019 12,936,483

Income tax 1,084,360 1,463,146 2,331,544

Net income 5,340,613 5,341,873 10,604,939

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International programmes funded investments

In 2012 Aquatim continued the implementation of the Sectorial Operational Programme Environment „Extension and upgrading of the water supply and sewerage systems in the Timiș county”. The project value is of 509.63 million lei (around 119 million Euros) and this is the second large scale investment programme financed through a European grant approached by Aquatim, after the 45 million Euros ISPA funded project, completed in 2011. The co-financing of the present regional investment programme is ensured by the local authorities with 1.73% (the investments planned for Timișoara are of 2,056,408 lei), while the rest is covered by Aquatim – 13.04%, the state budget – 11.30% and the European Union, from the Cohesion Fund – 73,93%. The localities included in the project are Timișoara, Sânnicolau Mare, Jimbolia, Deta, Buziaș, Gătaia, Recaș, Făget, Ciacova, Săcălaz and Sânmihaiu Român.

15 million Euros from EBRD for investments in the Timiş county

Aquatim and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) signed, in March 21, 2012, a loan agreement of 15.51 million Euros.

This is EBRD’s third loan to Aquatim and the second loan without guarantees, relying entirely on Aquatim’s credit standing. The loan will secure the company’s major investment project in the water and waste water infrastructure in the county.

Signed agreements, important steps forward

During the year, several works contracts within the aforementioned were signed. We submit an overview in Table 5.

DEVELOPMENT

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Signing date Object of the contract Contract value, million lei

Jan. 3, 2012 Waste water treatment plant, Deta 9.33

Jan. 23, 2012 Waste water treatment plant, Sânnicolau Mare 24.09

Jan. 24, 2012 Waste water treatment plant, Ciacova 4.96

Jan. 30, 2012 Waste water treatment plant, Jimbolia 14.74

Feb. 6, 2012 Waste water treatment plant, Buziaș 9.96

Feb. 7, 2012 Waste water treatment plant, Făget 8.30

Aug. 21, 2012 Waste water treatment plant, Recaș 9.37

Sep. 17, 2012 Advanced sludge dewatering facilty, Timișoara WWTP 22.53

Oct. 17, 2012 Water supply and sewerage networks, Timișoara South – residential areas of Freidorf, Soarelui, Ciarda Roșie, Girocului, Fratelia and Iosefin

32.61

Oct. 30, 2012 Water supply and sewerage networks, Timișoara North – residential areas of Ronaţ, Telegrafului, Dorobanţilor and Ghirodei

19.95

Nov. 28, 2012 Water supply and sewerage networks, Jimbolia 28.90

Dec. 5, 2012 Water supply and sewerage networks, Sânnicolau Mare 27.95

Table 5. Signing of the agreements for the investments financed through SOP Environment 2012

Self financed investment programme

A brief presentation of the company’s self financed investment programmes is given as follows: ‒ Works for the improvement of the water supply systems, in amount of 2,781,016 lei, including:

ɤ Works performed by the company’s employees and completed, consisting in network extensions on the following streets: Macarie (180 m), N. Paganini (300 m), A. Bacalbașa (712 m), V. Voiculescu (192 m), Cercului (140 m), G. Antipa (250 m), Neajlov (208 m), Calea Stan Vidrighin (350 m), T. Podlipny (110 m), D. Dinicu (40 m), I. Slavici (60 m), Telegrafului (40 m), Azaleelor (240 m). These works are in amount of 1,084,120 lei and cover 2,822 m pipes.

ɤ Works contracted out in 2012 and completed, consisting of rehabilitation and extension works of the supply system on the following streets: Ion Buteanu (190 m), Aleea Azurului (140 m), Cerna (457 m), Traian Vuia (310 m), Brașov (370 m) and the connection of the Ghiroda’s water supply system with the distribution network of Timișoara (2,200 m). These works are in amount of 1,696,896 lei and cover 3,667 m pipes.

‒ Works for the improvement of the sewerage systems, in amount of 366,819 lei, summing up the rehabilitation of 828 m sewerage pipes, on Ion Buteanu (140 m), Aleea Azurului (208 m), Traian Vuia (243 m) and Brașov (237 m) streets.

‒ Improvement works at the water treatment plants, in amount of 5,820,325 lei, for the rehabilitation of the pumping station no. 1 and the heat plant within the Bega water treatment plant.

‒ Improvement works at the waste water treatment plant, in amount of 439,476 lei, for building the facilities for the collection and processing of the sewage disposed through vacuum jetters, the first stage of the project.

‒ Asset maintenance and improvement works, in amount of 657,920 lei.

Ghiroda, connected to Timişoara’s water supply system

From the aforesaid works we present in more detail the connection of Ghiroda to the Timișoara’s water distribution network. Practically the two networks were linked by a 2.2 km long connecting pipe. The water quality parameters, such as pressure, flow rate, and chlorine content are automatically measured when entering the system, through sensors installed on the water main. Through this project, safe water runs now at the taps of the 4,000 inhabitants of Ghiroda round the clock.

Subsidiaries have also worked hard in 2012

Aquatim’s subsidiaries from Jimbolia, Deta, Sânnicolaul Mare, Făget and Buziaș have worked hard all year long. Most works and the most important ones were concerned with the execution and repair of water connections, rehabilitation of the water pipes and meter installation of meters on water connections. At the Deta subsidiary two WWTPs were commissioned, in Gătaia and Liebling.

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Research and innovation

Aquatim obtained government funding for applied research

In the summer of 2012, Aquatim obtained financing for a new water quality applied research project, within the National Programme for Research, Development and Innovation II 2007-2012. The project “Integrated System for Reducing Environmental and Human-Related Impacts and Risks in the Water Use Cycle”, known as WATUSER, is in amount of 2.86 million lei and was co-financed by a Ministry of Education, Research, Youth and Sports grant (85%) and by contributions of the partners (15%) - Aquatim, Tehnical University “Gheorghe Asachi” from Iași, „Politehnica” University from Timișoara and Apavital, the water company from Iași. The project objective is to develop and implement innovative technologies for water and waste water treatment in order to respond to specific quality issues over the entire water use cycle, from the abstraction from sources to the discharge into the environment and reuse.

Aquatim – partner in ICe WATER

Aquatim is also a participant in another collaborative project financially supported by a EU programme called “ICT Solutions for Efficient Water Resources Management” (acronym - ICe Water). For this three-year project Aquatim joined a large team of European companies and research institutes, including Siemens AG (Germany), Toshiba Research Europe Limited (Great Britain), Consorzio Milano Ricerche (Italy), Italdata SPA (Italy), Unesco-IHE (Netherlands), Institute of Communication and Computer Systems (Greece), K&S GmbH Projektmanagement (Germany) and the Milano water company, Metropolitana Milanese. The project budget amounts to 4.7 million Euros, out of which 3 million is a grant. In Timișoara, ICe Water aims to adjust the water supply to the actual consumption, by monitoring the water flow in a pilot zone (district metering area) using wireless sensors and smart IT solutions.

Rooftop photovoltaic power plant

Aquatim installed in 2012 a photovoltaic power plant on the roof of its headquarters building in Timișoara. The PV power plant has an output of 3.92 kW and will produce annualy an estimated amount of electricity of 4,700 kWh, used for utility consumption. The plant has 16 photovoltaic cells that convert the solar radiation into electricity. In a in a sunny summer day the energy produced by the PV plant is sufficient for the operation of 60 computers equipped with displays.

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Professional community

The Aquademica Foundation builds knowledge for water professionals

During 2012, the Romanian-German foundation Aquademica kept up the standards in connecting water professionals and delivered quality training programmes, including courses and seminars on various topics and transfer of know-how. The foundation has tried to “import” the German model, by fitting as much as possible the knowledge and best practices into the Romanian organisations. In 2012, the foundation organised 14 courses and seminars, attended by over 350 people from 41 companies.

In February a Memorandum for collaboration was signed in Timișoara between Aquademica and German Water Partnership. Several Romanian and German officials were present, including the mayor of Timişoara, the German consul and the general director of Aquatim. The water company is a founding member of Aquademica.

“ECO-IMPULS” international conference

În October 25, 2012 Aquademica, Aquatim, the “Politehnica” University from Timișoara and the Tehnical University Gheorghe Asachi from Iași organised the international conference „Eco-Impuls – Environmental Research and Technology”, which aimed to provide a framework for discussions between specialists from the academic field, researchers and practitioners.

Aquatim at Expo Apa

Each year Aquatim has taken part at the most important event in the national water community, Expo Apa, held in Bucharest, at the Palace of Parliament. The regional operating company presented the latest news regarding its projects and investments. The event in Bucharest is an excellent opportunity to find out what’s new in the business and therefore a busy meeting point for all water professionals who are proud to be part of this community and to deal with water, this essential resource.

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We respect our customers

The Customer Care Department receives and analyzes all customer inquires or complaints and forward them to the departments in charge for fixing the reported problem. The Customer Care Department will answer the written enquiries and complaints in maximum 10 days upon receival, which is also a performance indicator for the service and in maximum 30 days for other types of customer requests.

2,507 written customer complaints and requests were received in 2012 and they were all fixed in due time. As the contracts for the company’s services are concerned, out of 10,968 contracts concluded in 2012, 4,046 were revised contracts and 6,922 were new contracts.

The Customer Care Department is in direct contact with people. The customer contact database developed by Aquatim proved to be useful for sending notifications on interruptions in the supply, overdue invoices and other information. At the end of 2012 we had 18,846 mobile phone number and 3,800 e-mail address entries in the customer contact database

New home for the customer dealing departments

In August the Customer Care Department, the Contract Office and the Technical Department moved to new premises, into a refurbished building belonging to Aquatim, centrally located and providing parking places for customers.

Bills payment via ATM

Aquatim made available to its customers additional options for the payment of the water bill, others than through the company’s cashiers or bank transfer. The water bill can be paid at bank offices, ATMs, at all PayPoint retailers, at the post offices network in the entire area of supply, and also to the postal workers, in other localities than Timisoara. In 2012 the company extended its partnerships with new banks, making possible now for customers to pay their bill at BRD, BCR, Banca Transilvania, CEC Bank, ING, Raiffeisen Bank and Unicredit Ţiriac Bank.

CUSTOMER RELATIONS

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Blessing of Water, for a good year!

The Christian tradition of Blessing of Water held on the Feast of Theophany has been observed by Aquatim for many years. Last year the water was blessed at the Bega treatment plant by Zaharia Pereș, from the local orthodox parish. The priest also blessed with holy water the facilities, the buildings and the people, in the Christian spiritual tradition of repelling evil and purifying. The company employees and the people from Timișoara are happy to go through this ritual each year, as they are convinced that good fortune will be on their side all year long!

Poetry lovers met in the Aquatim’s “Flying Saucer”

Poetry, music and water met in March 21, 2012 at the Urseni treatment plant in Timișoara. The International Poetry Day gathered together poets and readers for a public reading session in a less conventional place, one of the most spectacular buildings from Timișoara, belonging to Aquatim. The old building accomodating the water drills for the first water treatment plant of the city, dating from 1914, was designed by the architect Laszlo Szekely, in Hungarian Secession style. Apparently the building resembles a flying saucer which is why its pictures from Google Earth have made quite a sensation in UFO internet community forums.

World Water Day, Open Doors at Aquatim

March 22 is for the entire water community an important day, because since 1992, water is celebrated this day worldwide, as an United Nations initiative. The theme of the last year “Water and food security” focused on water footprint of the food products, highlighting the large amounts of water “swallowed” by the food processing industry and wasted, the most of times.

Aquatim has a well established agenda each year for WWD, raising awareness in the local community on water, this vital resource. On March 22 the Bega treatment plant from Timisoara opened its doors for the public. The visitors, mostly university and high school students found out where drinking water came from and other interesting details on the water history of the city. At the end of the tour, the visitors could “taste” a glass of fresh made tap water, right from its source!

Water in all ... cardinal directions

The only artesian spring from the city in Aquatim’s administration, known as the cardinal directions fountain is a landmark for visitors and locals. In the spring of 2012 the fountain was refurbished, the basin and walls were painted the pipes and pumps were checked and fixed for the new season.

Running again in the Companies Street Contest

Joining the local sport events was another direction embraced by Aquatim, therefore on May 13, Aquatim stood at the starting line of the current edition of the Companies Street Contest. Out of the 2,500 participants, 20 were Aquatim’s employees who represented the company in all contests, Nordic walk - 3 km, running – 5 km and cycling – 10 km.

Job Shadow Day

In May, Aquatim was again part of “Job Shadow Day”, an interesting educational project. The WWTP was visited by a group of 19 high school students, eager to learn first hand information on such a workplace. The programme aimed to give students an accurate impression on the world of work and also to help them make their career decisions.

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

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Researchers from 6 European contries met at Aquatim

An international team of researchers, involved in the European supported programme LOCAW – Low Carbon at Work decided to hold part of their annual meeting at Aquatim, more precisely at the WWTP in Timișoara. Aquatim’s management presented the company’s development strategy and the long-term investments with environmental impact while the LOCAW team presented an overview of the projects results and activities. LOCAW analyzes everyday practices and behaviours at work of employees within large scale private or public sector organization, in order to understand the drivers of and barriers to sustainable lifestyles.

In top 5, among green companies from Romania

Aquatim is green, according to Green Business Index 2012, where the company ranked the 4th in the general top and the 3rd and 4th in the specialized tops, at the Sustainable development, respectively Green Aquisitions and Environmental impact categories. GBI, a genuine barometer of the environmental responsibility monitored how did 300 companies fulfill their environmental commitments and how did they manage their resources in order to contribute to the development of a green economy. For the thrid time in the GBI race, Aquatim’s performance was the best so far.

100 years of waste water treatment in Timișoara!

On October 26, 1912 the first waste water treatment plant from the country was commissioned in Timișoara. Aquatim organised a series of events in order to celebrate this.

The present moment is just one step away from the past and the present and its perspectives are worth living, so thought Ilie Vlaicu and Ioan Haţegan, the authors of the volume lauched at the 100 year celebration event, “Water supply in Timișoara. Hystory, present and perspectives”.

The 100 year event was closely covered by the local and regional media and the impact was major.

AQUATIM S.A. 300081 Timisoara, str. Gheorghe Lazar nr. 11/A tel.: 0256 201 370, fax: 0256 294 753 www.aquatim.rotext: Loredana Leordean, Crenguta Radosavtranslation: Loredana Leordeangraphic concept: Alina Gutuleaccover: Loredana Tirzioruphoto: AQUATIM, Alin Zelenco