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Building their homes, the post-WWII generation in Slovenia mostly relied on home-made concrete solutions, including septic and water tanks and pipes, and many still do s. However, knowing today's solutions, a wholly new world opens and the only limit is the imagination. With 20 years experience, Jože Bergant, general manager of the Lesce-based Regeneracija d.o.o., is the man in the know. Starting in a barn 20 years ago, his company now employs 140 people in several European countries.

Clean drinking water is usually taken for granted in Slovenia, although this too is changing. What solutions does your company offer to maintain the quality of water?

We do provide water purification solutions, but not for water that enters pipelines from reservoirs, because in Slovenia's many resources, drinking water is not a problem yet. As far as I know, there is no pumping of water from rivers for household use, which usually needs treatment before it enters pipeline systems.

We are a regional company with branches all over ex-Yugoslavia (except Macedonia), plus Poland and Russia; we have set up a desalination system in Montenegro. Otherwise, we are more involved in wastewater treatment, based on watertight plastic containers, providing systems for 5 and up to 2,000 people. We are actually one of the very few (maybe three altogether) producers of small sewage treatment plants in Slovenia.

We also provide comprehensive rainwater harvesting systems, drainage systems, water filters and anything in connection with water around your house. On top of that, we produce pumping stations, shafts and basically anything to do with plastics: all sorts of containers, pipes, and products for municipal infrastructure.

What are trends in small sewage treatment plants?

There is a law that stipulates the use of treatment plants instead of simple septic tanks; however its enforcement is quite another issue. However, people's environmental awareness has increased and we have recorded a steady growth in the use of treatment plants. There is still room for improvement, such as grants and financial contributions provided by the state.

In Austria, for example, we were involved in a project where the state's contribution was 50%, which was received with a tremendous response from the local people. In Slovenia, much of it is left to individuals and local communities. If you compare prices, a home-made septic tank would cost you in the region of EUR 2,500 plus regular cleaning costs, while a basic treatment plant is available for roughly EUR 3,500. And if it works properly, you are also entitled to reimbursement of water treatment fees paid to the public service provider.

How much do you invest in research and development activities?

We invest around 4% of our annual turnover in R&D, which includes researching new markets. R&D is extremely important; there is no future without it. You might be tempted to do away with it in order to improve your annual balance, but this would be a very short-lived policy.

What are your competitive advantages?

We seek advantages in procedures and work together with the Faculty of Civil Engineering, where we have set up a pilot sewage treatment plant. Students can study there and perform experiments. These findings help our R&D staff find new solutions. We also have a postgraduate student working on water treatment.

How are you coping with the recession?

We have seen a decrease in orders in the region between 10 to 15%. We work according to plans but instead of taking the last two or three years, which were "crazy" in business terms, as a benchmark, we took 2005 and 2006, which provides a more realistic picture. We are looking for new opportunities, such as doing business directly with end customers. As a result of lower starting material costs, our products have become a bit less expensive but otherwise, we talk to the customer in order to arrive at the optimum solution for both sides.