The Onninen Group and the John Nurminen Foundation have concluded a two-year agreement in support of the Foundation’s Clean Baltic Sea projects.
As specified in the agreement, Onninen is committed to donating equipment to the Foundation’s ongoing wastewater treatment projects in the Russian cities of Gatchina and Vyborg. In 2011, Onninen will provide the Foundation’s Vyborg project with equipment worth at least €50,000, and in 2012, the Gatchina project will receive equipment for at least the same amount.
In 2011, the Foundation will commission a technical survey on how the efficiency of the phosphorus removal methods of the Vyborg and Gatchina wastewater treatment plants could be improved. The survey will identify cost-efficient investments for both plants, enabling them to achieve the phosphorus removal levels recommended for treated wastewater by the Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission, HELCOM*. The technical survey will also list the equipment required by phosphorus removal, and include detailed investment plans for both plants.
‘With these concrete actions, Onninen wants to promote the protection of the Baltic Sea and implement environmental responsibility in the neighbouring areas. The John Nurminen Foundation was selected as the recipient of the donation because of the Foundation’s emphasis on achieving measurable results through cost-efficient means. For us, supporting the Baltic Sea was a natural choice, as all countries Onninen operates in, with the exception of Kazakhstan, are located in the catchment area of the Baltic Sea’, says vuorineuvos Maarit Toivanen-Koivisto, Chair of Onninen’s Board of Directors.
‘Onninen is the first equipment supplier to make us a donation of equipment used in wastewater treatment plants. Support of this kind is extremely valuable, as it can be targeted directly to ongoing projects. By improving the phosphorus removal efficiency of the Vyborg and Gatchina plants, the annual phosphorus loads entering the Baltic Sea will be reduced by approximately 80 tonnes’, says Juha Nurminen, Chairman of the Board of the John Nurminen Foundation.
In 2011, the Vyborg plant will be furnished with a permanent phosphorus removal system to replace the current, temporary phosphorus removal system supplied by the John Nurminen Foundation. In accordance with the Letter of Intent signed by the John Nurminen Foundation and the Vyborg Water Utility, the Foundation will deliver the equipment required by the system, and the Vyborg Water Utility will care of the construction work. A detailed list of the equipment has not yet been drawn up, but it is likely to include feed and transport pumps, drainage pumps, pipings, valves, surface and flow gauges, filters, mixers, phosphorus analysers, sampling pumps and pipes.
The Foundation has also signed a Letter of Intent with the Gatchina water treatment plant on improving the levels of phosphorus removal efficiency. The agreement specifies that the Foundation is responsible for equipment delivery, and the plant for the construction work. A detailed equipment list will be drawn up during 2011, but because of the plant’s project for renewing its screening and sand removal systems in 2011, the equipment will not be procured or installed before 2012.
The business operations of the Onninen Group are closely tied to water and energy. Water, energy and ecological products play a key role in almost all of the Group’s customer segments. Environmental aspects are also closely linked to the Group’s Infra segment, with its customer base of companies and non-profit organisations that build and maintain the infrastructure of our society.
With the agreement about to be signed during the next few weeks, Onninen will become one of the main supporters of the John Nurminen Foundation. The other main supporters are Fortum, Sanoma, Nokia, the Finnish Ministry of the Environment, EU’s Baltic Sea Region Programme, the Finnish Transport Agency, and Capgemini.
‘According to the HELCOM recommendation, wastewater leaving wastewater treatment plants should contain a maximum of 0.5 mg of phosphorus per litre.’
Further information:
Onninen Group
Kai Puustinen, Senior Vice President, Group Communications
Tel. +358 40 776 7068
kai.puustinen@onninen.com
John Nurminen Foundation
Erik Båsk, Secretary General
Tel. +358 40 8258071
erik.bask@jnfoundation.fi
John Nurminen Foundation
Tuula Putkinen, Communications Manager
Tel. +358 400 907 809
tuula.putkinen@jnfoundation.fi
Onninen Group
Onninen provides comprehensive materials services to contractors, industry, public organizations and technical product retailers. We are a family-owned company and have operated in the industry since 1913. We have 3,000 employees in our Finnish, Swedish, Norwegian, Polish, Russian, Baltic and Kazakh operations. Our net sales for 2010 totaled EUR 1.4 billion.
The Clean Baltic Sea projects of the John Nurminen Foundation improve the status of the Baltic Sea. The target of the Foundation’s eutrophication projects is to reduce annual phosphorus loads by 2,500 tonnes by the year 2015. This equals one sixth of the HELCOM phosphorus reduction targets for the Baltic Sea. The Tanker Safety project aims at reducing the risk of oil spills with the introduction, to be implemented in 2013, of the new, enhanced navigation support information system ENSI for all tankers sailing the Baltic Sea. The operations of the Foundation are funded exclusively with donations.