Latvia’s capital, Riga, has significantly cut back its emissions into the Baltic Sea. At a water treatment conference, the city’s success was met with enthusiasm among Latvian decision-makers.
Riga’s determination to reduce its emissions into the Baltic Sea has produced results in a short time. The Latvian capital’s annual phosphorus disposal has decreased by 100 tonnes in three years.
This amount constitutes one-third of the national goal set by the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM) to be achieved by 2021. HELCOM is the governing body of the Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area, also known as the Helsinki Convention. Riga’s nitrogen emissions into the Baltic Sea have surpassed 1600 tonnes.
These results served as an encouraging example for the large number of local decision-makers who attended the water treatment conference in Latvia in late September. The event was organized by Kemira and the Baltic Sea Action Group, an independent foundation promoting the protection of the Baltic Sea.
Dagnija Kalnina, director of the board at the Riga water plant and Maris Zvidris, director of the plant, exchanged opinions with Kemira´s Aija Jantunen at the meeting.
Great progress, despite the economy
That these emission reductions were achieved during a deep economic recession makes the result even more impressive.
“Despite the challenging economy, Latvia is committed to the European Union’s urban wastewater directive. Moreover, many of Latvia’s water treatment plants already partially meet HELCOM’s requirements, which are stricter than those of the European Union,” says Aija Jantunen, head of Kemira’s Municipal & Industrial segment’s operations in Finland and the Baltic countries.
The conference in Riga offered important opportunities for sharing experiences. Those who had already made significant advances showed others by example how to make improvements. “The essential message was that, instead of huge amounts of money, progress requires a strong will,” says Jantunen.
The highest official in Latvia´s Ministry of Environment, chief secretary Guntis Pukitis, told Aija Jantunen of Kemira that he´s very satisfied with the cooperation of the city of Riga and Kemira. He also emphasized that the implementation of efficient measures always begins at the water plants.
Future challenges
Although Latvia has made rapid progress in wastewater treatment, the country is facing two major challenges. The first pertains to phosphorus removal: Latvia’s wastewater treatment plants for areas with over 10,000 inhabitants were upgraded, partly with support from the European Union, but phosphorus removal at some of these facilities still barely meets the minimum EU regulations. Protecting the shallow Baltic Sea from eutrophication, however, calls for specific, tighter HELCOM regulations tailored to the needs of the Baltic Sea.
The second major challenge is sludge, a byproduct of wastewater treatment. The conference in Riga discussed the ways in which processed sludge could be utilized in agriculture.
Despite the great progress in Latvia, the state of the economy inevitably delays investments to some degree, especially those in smaller wastewater treatment plants.
On the other hand, the economy also spurs investments. Tourism is important to Latvia, which is why more and more people think that economic interests should not be sought selfishly at the expense of the environment. “Latvians also think that strict environmental requirements can generate new business. They are ready to adopt a new approach to environmental issues,” says Jantunen.
Ambassadors of water protection
Belarus is not a member of HELCOM, which is supported by nine Baltic Sea countries and the European Union. Latvia is well positioned to serve as a water protection ambassador to Belarus because the two countries share a river and lake system and strong cultural ties.
Marjukka Porvari, director of the John Nurminen Foundation, challenged Latvian participants of the conference to serve as experts and messengers for Belarus on issues pertaining to a cleaner Baltic Sea.
Text Risto Pennanen
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