Study visit to Finland

Training of managers of service companies and professionals in the field of water supply and discharge, working in the towns and villages of the North Ladoga region - a total of 20 people - is one of the major objectives of the "Clean Ladoga" project. Project partners (ZAO "Karelvodokanal", Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE, Joensuu) and ANO "Energy Efficiency Center") prepared and carried out a study tour to North Karelia to gain practical knowledge about up-to-date technologies and organizational principles of the waste water treatment process. 

The first stopover on the way from Joensuu was a waste water treatment facility Nieminen-Sintsi (Raakyla district):

Click on the picture to see exact location  

This autonomous plant with total capacity of 12 cub. m/day operates for 30 houses (about 100 people).
It treats water with chemicals (batch reactor).
Schematic diagram of the water treatment process is presented here.
Moreover, you can watch the video presentation of the plant here: http://youtu.be/96gVI8wofcU.

The second stop was made in a water treatment facility in Rääkkylä:

 
Click on the picture to see exact location 

This plant is designed for the treatment of 400 cub. m/day.
Schematic diagram of the water treatment process is presented here. 
The sewage system consists of gravity flow sewers and 3 pumping ststaion with remote management. 
The group visited one of these stations: 

On the way to other facility the Karelian group had a meeting with a specialist from the Centre for transport, economic development and environment of North Karelia Ari Heiskanen. He is an engineer and an experienced manager who was able to give answers to all questions of the participants including the questions on tariffs and investments to housing sphere in North Karelia.

The last facility to visit was a treatment station in Puhos village:

Click on the picture to see exact location

Thos small automatic station treats baout 200 cub. m of sewage waters per day.
Schematic diagram of the water treatment process and hydrochemical data are presented here.

The group returned to Sortavala by the evening on May, 20. The next day a training seminar for the participants was organized in the "Lamberg" hotel. The next article in this section describes it in more details.