Partners for cleaner water in Latvia
By Maren Synnevåg
- Newswire Norway
After fifty years of Soviet occupation, the Baltic States
faced a formidable clean-up process. Threats to the environment
and a common Nordic desire to reduce pollution in the Baltic Sea
were the catalyst for a series of co-operative projects between
Norway and the Baltic States. One such project was aimed at improving
the water supply in the Latvian town of Cesis.
In competition with a number of local authorities in Scandinavia,
the Fredrikstad Water, Sewage and Waste Disposal Company (FREVAR)
won the tender for a joint contract with the local waste disposal
company Vinda in Cesis in 1996. The town is situated in beautiful
countryside 120 kilometres north of the Latvian capital Riga.
Better drinking water
"The main aim was to improve the drinking water supply to the local
inhabitants", says operations manager Knut Lilleng of FREVAR.
"To achieve this, we had to finish the construction of a sewage
treatment plant that the Soviet Union had started building in the
mid 1980s. Upgrading the height chamber, pumping stations and mains
network were other tasks. Furthermore, the local employees at Vinda
needed training in engineering, financial management and other aspects
of administration".
It became a joint project with equal efforts from both parties.
Funding was made available from the Norwegian Pollution Control
Authority (SFT) together with a mix of loans and grants from the
Nordic Environment Finance Corporation (NEFCO). The EU, Denmark,
Finland, Latvia and Cesis municipality also provided additional
finance.
Abacuses and old-fashioned communism
"When we first came to Cesis the people were still doing the
accounts with abacuses", says Fred Gjærløv, a consultant from Interconsult.
"It was like stepping back in time. We invested in computers and
started to train the company's 60 employees. We also introduced
English language teaching at various levels", he adds.
Vinda had to be transformed from a slow moving organisation, into
an independent, service-oriented and efficient company.
"There was a whole series of challenges. Although the employees
were university educated, they were not used to thinking in terms
of practical engineering and a western market economy. For the company
to make a profit, it had to earn money on supplying water and treating
sewage. This was a totally new way of thinking, both for the local
population, who had previously enjoyed these services for nothing,
and for the Vinda management", says Gjærløv.
Soviet monolith
The sewage treatment plant, which had been built when Latvia was
part of the Soviet Union, was still unfinished when Vinda and FREVAR
started working together.
"The plant was big enough to service a town three times the size
of Cesis. By Soviet standards, a large building was a sign of success
and production excellence. We therefore had Finnish consultants
to redesign the plant. It is now a biological treatment plant which
releases clean water into the River Gauja, one of the largest rivers
in Latvia. The sludge from the plant is treated and used in the
forestry and farming industries", says Gjærløv.
Responsible and eager to learn
We have now solved the problems with administration and sewage,
but we are still working on improving the drinking water.
"The iron content in the water is too high, which makes it brown
and gives it a bad odour", explains Jarl Flink, an Interconsult
consultant.
The 20,000 inhabitants in the town get their drinking water straight
from groundwater wells that are totally untreated. The project partners
are now working to improve the mains network. A new water purification
plant is being built and is due to enter service by the end of the
year.
"Latvian craftsmen have had training in maintenance and restoration
work in both Fredrikstad and in Latvia. I am extremely impressed
by their standard of work. They were eager for training and very
responsible", adds Flink.
The highly successful joint project concluded with a water and
sewage seminar in Cesis in the summer 2000.
|
