United effort to save the Baltic; Helsinki water management educates consumers
HelsinkiThe Baltic Sea is one of the most polluted seas in the world. In an urgent call to save the sea, public and private sector players come together to recruit everybody to act. Cities can play a major role through their wastewater policies and practices.
The Baltic, particularly vulnerable because of its average depth of a mere 55m, is heavily burdened by nutrient loading, which causes widespread eutrophication (overgrowth of algal blooms). The state of the sea is also adversely impacted by refuse and toxins. The water changes only through the narrow and shallow Danish straits, and it takes 30 years for all water to be replaced.
Calls for commitments
In June 2007, the Cities of Helsinki and Turku made a commitment to improve the state of the Baltic Sea, naming the overall effort Baltic Sea Challenge. By their action, the cities want to reduce their own loading to the sea, in order to effect improvement in local waters and thereby in the entire Baltic Sea. The cities also want to show initiative and set an example. They have challenged other actors to join the work.
In November 2007, the countries bordering the Baltic adopted a road map (the Baltic Sea Action Plan by HELCOM), which indicates the actions required to restore the sea. On February 10th, 2010, a Baltic Sea Action Summit convenes in Helsinki at head-of-state level, essentially to provide a platform for concrete commitments by the region’s states, corporations and organizations to save the sea.
In connection with the Summit, the Baltic Sea Challenge organizes an international seminar for Baltic cities at Helsinki City Hall on February 9th, 2010 together with John Nurminen Foundation (which promotes a cleaner Baltic Sea). Seminar participants review opportunities of ports and municipal water management companies to reduce nutrient loading to the Baltic. The speakers include Felix Karmazinov, Director of St. Petersburg’s water company Vodokanal, which has made major upgrades to its wastewater management.
Municipal water management in a key role
The Helsinki area’s water management is handled by the HSY Helsinki Region Environmental Services Authority.
HSY participates in a municipal effort in Finland to educate school-age children and early adolescents in water with the help of a “water school” on the Web (in Finnish). The material on the water-school Web pages walks students through the process of water purification and treatment. The objective is to promote their understanding of where drinking water comes from, what happens to wastewater, and how and why wastewater is treated. The goal is to teach people from early age to care for the environment by paying attention to water and their water consumption.
HSY also participates in a public awareness campaign about domestic wastewater (in Finnish), aimed at educating consumers in the proper use of the toilet – what not to put into the sewer. The tools of the campaign are public advertising and information delivered to households. The campaign is part of the Baltic Sea Challenge and helps to build consumers’ awareness of their abilities to influence the state of the sea.
HSY’s main water treatment facility is the Viikinmäki plant, which treats the wastewaters of close to one million people in a 15-hectare facility, built into the Helsinki bedrock and operating entirely underground. Viikinmäki, opened in 1994, still stands as one of Finland’s main environmental investments. It removes 98% of phosphorous and 90% of nitrogen. The percentages represent high levels in municipal waste water treatment.
News
July 23, 2010
July 23, 2010
