VAG Pressure Management for Gelendzhik

The first Russian fortress on the Black Sea coast was established in 1831. People settled in a beautiful bay surrounded by mountains. 139 years later, in 1970, Gelendzhik was recognised as 'All-Union' resort and rated as a designated recreational area in 1996. Gelendzhik occupies an area of about 123,000 km². The city has 62,000 inhabitants, but during the holiday season, as many as 3,000,000 visitors flock to the town to swim in the sea, relax and improve their health.

The town's water distribution system just about manages to handle such a large increase in population. But thanks to the huge efforts and repair and modernisation work carried out by the local municipal utility company 'Vodokanal Gelendzhik' (MUP VKH), the system has never failed. During the holiday season, people are supplied with water according to a schedule: three hours in the morning and three hours in the evening.

Gelendzhik's topography as a problem

But that's not all. The hot southern sun dries out several small rivers that feed into Gelendzhik's catchment area meaning that MUP VKH has to buy water from the Kuban river, which runs through Krasnodar Krai. This water is pumped to Gelendzhik through some 60 kilometres of special pipelines and serves the holidaymakers with water. In such circumstances, every little drop of water is as precious as a diamond. But the biggest problem is the town's topography: The town extends from the mountains to the coast, which increases the pressure of the water in the lower part of town by some 12 bars compared to the pressure on top of the mountains.

A challenge for even the best of urban planners - VAG PICO® selected

In 2012, Vodokanal Gelendzhik contacted the engineers of VAG Russia in search of a solution. The first step consisted of analysing the water supply system and establishing separate district metered areas (DMAs), marking the start of the first pressure management project in Russia.

The engineers at VAG Russia started by analysing the Pressure Management questionnaires, which were completed by the customer. The result was the establishment of the first DMA on the Tolstiy Cape in the southern part of the city.

After the analysis, VAG dimensioned the required valves and proposed a VAG PICO® Pilot Operated Control Valve DN 300 PN 16 with ControlMate FM for time-based pressure reduction.

Reducing the pressure when consumption is low helps reduce the real water loss through existing pipebreaks. It’s also very good for the whole supply pipeline because it reduces the number of new pipe breaks, thus saving money that can be used to maintain and repair the pipes.

Sucessful commissioning of VAG PICO® and the measuring equipment

In October 2013, the full set of equipment was delivered to Gelendzhik. Soon afterwards, an international team of VAG engineers arrived, consisting of a Pressure Management specialist from VAG-Armaturen GmbH in Mannheim and Mr Nikita Lukonin – head of the water supply systems modernisation team in Russia – together with Mr Ruslan Akhmetov – VAG Russia service engineer.

The team enjoyed the town's rugged landscape and the ocean view while commissioning the VAG PICO® Pilot Operated Control Valve with measuring equipment. Service engineers from Vodokanal Gelendzhik were trained to work with the Control-Mate so they could manage everything themselves after the project was completed.

After the commissioning, VAG held a Pressure Management training class for all of the technical specialists and managers of Vodokanal Gelendzhik. The participants discussed the current water consumption situation and future modernisation plans for the town's water supply system.

The VAG team even became TV stars that evening

The local TV channel had prepared a report on the work for the evening newscast.

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