The Vistula (Polish: Wisla) is the longest and largest river in Poland, at 1 047 kilometres (651 miles) in length.
Major floods in 2010 caused by heavy rain and rapidly melting snow in the mountains forced riverside towns and cities to race to sandbag streets and buildings along its banks. In Krakow, the mayor declared a state of emergency after the river passed the high-water mark at 74 cm above average. The following day the river swelled to 300 cm above flood level. Luckily, the massive stone bulwarks lining the river held firm but this meant that most of the water was channelled past the city, instead flooding other cities downstream. In some cases, the flooding highlighted a lack of judgement by local officials, who had authorised extensive development on the now waterlogged flood plains. About a month later, however, everything was back to normal.
There are a lot of stormwater outfalls into the river, which also act as overflow channels when the river level rises. When the river floods, water is pushed back up the stormwater pipes and channelled out to the suburbs. So instead of the stormwater pipes channelling water into the river, the exact opposite occurs which causes massive flooding.
Solution: Installing a WaStop on each outfall prevents any flood water from entering the stormwater pipe, and thereby prevents flooding. Stormwater can still be channelled into the river, but water from the river is kept safely away from the streets and houses in the surrounding areas. Another successful installation, with hundreds of people now protected from future floods.
Thanks to our distributor in Poland, Rafnar.
