St Petersburg Neva Direct Discharge Closure

Project Description

The purpose of the Neva Programme is to close off the remaining points of direct discharge of untreated sewage into the River Neva from the main tunnel collector and associated sewer networks in St Petersburg.

When the St Petersburg South West Wastewater Treatment Plant (SWWWTP) was completed in 2005 the city's capacity for treating wastewater increased to 85 per cent. Yet without collectors to receive sewage from around 400 municipal and industrial sewers it was not possible to stop the pollution of the city's water bodies and the Baltic Sea. The project aims to eliminate these discharges and enable the City to deliver on its pledge to treat 98 per cent of wastewater in compliance with EU and HELCOM directives.

The investment programme includes:

1. completion of the Northern Tunnel Collector;
2. connection of direct discharge sewers to the new sewer network;
3. construction of the URS-422 Pumping Station and
4. partial reconstruction of exisitng Northern and Central wastewater treatment plants.

Northern Tunnel Collector

In October 2008 the first line of the Northern Tunnel Collector became operational and was inaugurated by Governor Ms Valntina Matvienko of St Petersburg. It enabled the closure of 31 points of direct discharges along the tunnel, effectively removing 97 000 m3 of wastewater daily. Much work remained to be done as the overall construction consisted of  two tunnels each measuring 4m in diameter, laid at a depth of 40-90 meters for 12.2km.

The completion of this milestone project was celebrated along with the 155th anniversary of Vodokanal St Petersburg on October 10th, 2013 when the second line of the Collector was inaugurated. Construction of the Northern Tunnel Collector extended over several decades and consists of a complex system of engineering facilities. The Collector enabled 76 direct discharges to be closed and stopped 334 000 m3 of untreated wastewater from draining into the River Neva every day. St Petersburg is now able to treat 98.4 per cent of its wastewater and Vodokanal is commited to continue to improve its performance in coming years.

Financing

The project was implemented with financial commitment from St Petersburg Vodokanal, the City and Federal budgets. Sida, the Finnish Ministry of Environment, the John Nurminen Foundation and the EBRD Special Shareholder fund offered bilateral support through grants. The project benefited from the largest NDEP grant to date and when signed in May 2009, it paved the way for EUR 60 million in IFI lending.