Töölönlahti fountain switched on as snowfall hits Helsinki
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Two men were seen rowing on the calm Töölönlahti inlet in central Helsinki on Thursday morning, accompanied by a steady flow of large, wet snowflakes from a leaden sky.
In their boat, the men had the heart of the Töölönlahti fountain: the acid-resistant steel pumps.
The men's mission was to return the pumps to the framework floating in the middle of the inlet, from which they had been removed at the beginning of December for their winter maintenance at the engine shop of the City Public Works Department.
"Once again all the parts have been replaced", explains head of department Pekka Markkula. "And replaced by costly spare parts, I might add."
Even though the pumps are of robust construction, the brackish seawater eventually gets the better of them.
"Their yearly maintenance budget is in the region of EUR 10,000, which is a lot of money, considering that the whole fountain originally cost just EUR 2,500", Markkula calculates.
As soon as the pumps had been fixed in place and the men had returned to the shore, the fountain spurted up its first water drops of the year, past the snowflakes travelling in the opposite direction.
The Finnish Meteorological Institute has promised more snow for today. It's not quite over yet. And, they tell us, there is nothing intrinsically abnormal about snow this far south in April. In fact it happens every year, but we just don't get used to it or want to remember.
The Töölönlahti fountain, in turn, will continue delighting Helsinki residents with its water jets until just before the inlet freezes over next winter.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 22.4.2005 - TODAY |
 Töölönlahti fountain switched on as snowfall hits Helsinki
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