St. Petersburg reduces phosphorous emissions into Gulf of Finland

Growth in agriculture undermines benefits of waste water cleanup

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The toxic blue-green algae, which plagues the Gulf of Finland each summer, should finally begin to decline now that the city of St. Petersburg is sharply cutting its emissions of phosphorous.
      At least this was the hope on Monday at the central waste water treatment plant which introduces chemical phosphorous removal. The plant was inaugurated on Monday by Finnish President Tarja Halonen and St. Petersburg Deputy Governor Mikhail Oseyevski.
      The new sewage treatment plant, which was partly built with Finnish aid, is the largest such facility in St. Petersburg, with a capacity for dealing with about half of the waste water produced by the city.
      Phosphorous is removed from sewage more efficiently with a chemical process involving iron sulphate.
      The method is in use in all Baltic Sea states. Once it is taken into use at all large treatment plants in the St. Petersburg area, more than a quarter of the phosphorous emissions into the Gulf of Finland today will be eliminated.
     
The St. Petersburg water utility was helped in the project by the Finnish Ministry of the Environment, and the John Nurminen Foundation, which raised funds from a number of companies and private individuals. The plant cost EUR 1.9 million, of which the water works paid for half.
      "Our dear Baltic Sea is unfortunately in bad shape, but it can get better. Saving the Baltic requires efforts from all countries in the area, and cooperation for decades to come", said Halonen at the inauguration of the plant.
     
Much remains to be done in St. Petersburg as well. The sewage produced by at least 300,000 people still goes directly into the Neva River or the Gulf of Finland. The existing treatment plants would have the capacity for the sewage, but St. Petersburg still lacks an adequate drainage system.
      Another problem is the increase in agriculture in the St. Petersburg area. There are no precise figures on how much phosphorous is generated by farms in the region.
      The Leningrad Region, which surrounds St. Petersburg, would like to be self-sufficient in food. Already now there are twice the as of chickens in the area as there are in all of Finland, and the number of pigs is also to be doubled. Increasing agriculture could put as much phosphorous into the sea as the new sewage treatment methods remove - even more.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Gulf of Finland has slightly higher oxygen level than last summer (14.8.2007)
  Nearly all St. Petersburg sewage to be treated within five years (7.5.2007)
  Removal of phosphorous from St Petersburg waste water to begin next year (11.10.2005)
  St. Petersburg wastewater treatment plant scheduled for completion in summer 2005 (12.11.2003)

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