05.08.2010 | News
NEFCO and the Finnish Ministry of the Environment are financing the modernization of ten small wastewater treatment plants in St. Petersburg. NEFCO has approved a loan of EUR 5 million and the Finnish Ministry of the Environment has committed EUR 1 million for the project.
The other financiers of the scheme are the Northern Dimension Environmental Programme (NDEP) and the local waterworks company Vodokanal, which is also responsible for implementing the project.
The investment is intended to upgrade the treatment of wastewater at small and medium-sized plants by, among other things, installing modern equipment, which will enable the chemical removal of phosphorus.
The project will benefit some 410,000 people, and is expected to reduce discharges of phosphorus into the Neva River and the Gulf of Finland by some 40 tonnes per year – a figure equivalent to the discharge of untreated wastewater by more than 53,000 people per year.
”This project is intended to solve all the nutrient discharge problems emanating from the City of St. Petersburg, for once and all, and after the modernization process, the city will comply with all the recommendations laid out by HELCOM,” says NEFCO’s Vice President, Kari Homanen.
According to the Finnish Environment Institute, improved wastewater treatment in St. Petersburg will drastically improve water quality, promote biodiversity and reduce the spread and proliferation of toxic algae (cyanobacteria) in the Gulf of Finland.
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Learn more about NEFCO’s previous wastewater projects
Read more about Finland’s environmental cooperation with Russia