St Petersburg Ten Suburban Wastewater Treatment Plants Rehabilitation

Prior to 1978 St Petersburg had no wastewater treatment facilities and municipal and industrial waste was discharged directly into the Baltic Sea. The South West Wastewater Treatment Plant (SWWWTP) and the Neva programme has since been completed and with improvements at ten suburban treatment plants the city is set to achieve full compliance with HELCOM and EU standards by 2015.

HELCOM recommendations, more stringent than EU requirements, call for phosphorus in treated wastewater to be below 0.5mg/l and nitrogen to be less than 8mg/l. By these standards the city's treatment plants need to achieve load reductions to the Gulf of Finland of 90 per cent and 70-80 per cent for total phosphorus and nitrogen content respectively.

Project Description

Ten smaller suburban treatment plants will benefit from this project to improve nutrient removal and energy efficiency. The scope of work includes the construction and rehabilitation of key process units and the connection of wastewater to other plants for treatment.

Environmental Benefits

• The ten treatment plants will meet new HELCOM recommendations in line with the Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP) and will comply with the EU wastewater treatment directives.
• Phosphorous reduction to the Gulf of Finland will be some 40 t/year and nitrogen reduction 167 t/a.
• New energy efficient pumps and and aeration equipment will result in energy savings for existing operations by some 3000 MWh/a.