Tampere Central Wastewater Treatment Plant launched – “Projects of this size are rare in Finland”
In September, wastewater was directed for the first time to Tampere Central Wastewater Treatment Plant. The construction of the new treatment plant in Sulkavuori is a major undertaking: the investment is worth around €386 million.
Finnchain supplied four scrapers for the sand separation basins, eight scrapers for the pre-clarification basins, and sixteen scrapers for the post-clarification basins for the Sulkavuori project. The order also included a total of 24 surface sludge removal pipes. Photo: Annamaria Palsi-Ikonen
The new central treatment plant is designed to serve 360 000 residents. Although the population of the Tampere region is growing, and with it the amount of wastewater, the load on Lake Pyhäjärvi and the waterways below it will be reduced.
"An impressive facility! Great, functional premises. Cleverly designed so that the treatment plant can be easily expanded. The hosts are clearly proud of it, and rightly so," says Krister Stenbom, CEO of Finnchain, who visited Sulkavuori with the Finnchain board.
Big delivery from Finnchain
Finnchain supplied four scrapers for the sand separation basins, eight scrapers for the pre-clarification basins, and sixteen scrapers for the post-clarification basins for the Sulkavuori project. The order also included a total of 24 surface sludge removal pipes.
The commissioning of the central treatment plant is proceeding in stages. The Viinikanlahti and Rahola treatment plants will soon be converted into pumping stations. The Lempäälä treatment plant will be completely closed by next summer.
"We are well prepared and have skilled staff operating the plant. The first moments of commissioning are still very exciting. But on the other hand, this is a very exciting phase for all of us, and we have been aiming for this since construction began," said Jukka Meriluoto, CEO of the central treatment plant, in a press release.
Lake shore to be freed up for other uses
Construction began in 2018, but the project was launched several years earlier. Finnchain also joined the project at an early stage.
"It was an honor to be involved in such a large and exciting project. The 50-60-year-old treatment plants were reaching the end of their useful life. The new one was built inside a rock, where the temperature stays more stable than outside. At the same time, the shore of Lake Pyhäjärvi is being freed up for other uses, such as new housing," says Stenbom.
Active sludge is fed into the aeration system at Tampere central wastewater treatment plant. Photo: Annamaria Palsi-Ikonen
Old treatment plants at the end of their life cycle
Tampere chose a traditional process similar to the one used by the city of Turku.
“Because the volume of wastewater to be treated is quite large, Sulkavuori wanted a treatment process that is well known and proven to be reliable. Projects of this size are rare in Finland. There are no similar projects in the pipeline at the moment, but the idea of a central treatment plant is being considered in other cities as well. In Tampere, new apartments, among other things, will be built on the site of the 50-60-year-old treatment plants near the shore of Lake Pyhäjärvi," says Stenbom.
Although projects of this size are rare in Finland, there are still many similar treatment plants built in the 1960s and 1970s in use in the Nordic countries. This means new business for Finnchain.
