After the completion of the first stage of reconstruction smoothly and on time, the renovated Vilnius sewage treatment plant begins work. The expansion of the treatment plant, which works on the principles of circular economy, is the largest and most complex project implemented by "Vilniaus vandenų", with investments amounting to 37,1 million. euros. Secondary raw materials extracted in the refinery are used as energy for own needs, which is enough for 25 percent. to supply the company's energy needs.
The expanded treatment plant is adapted to the needs of the growing city and stricter environmental requirements. After the reconstruction, the capacity of the treatment plant increases by 60 percent. - it will be able to receive 160 people per day. cubic meters of sewage and will clean up to 82 tons of pollutants. This amount of sewage would fill 64 Olympic swimming pools, and more than twelve trucks would be needed to contain the amount of treated pollutants.
"This successfully completed reconstruction is an excellent example of how funds allocated by the European Union can be used for a cleaner and more sustainable life. After the completion of the second stage of the reconstruction in the summer of next year and the installation of equipment for cleaning microplastics and other extremely small particles, the wastewater will be cleaned more efficiently than the established standards and thus the condition of the Neris River will be improved", says Minister of the Environment Simonas Gentvilas.
"As the population and number of businesses are growing rapidly in the capital, we have to adapt water management technologies to these circumstances. The expanded treatment plant will make a significant contribution to creating the future of Vilnius as a green city and will serve the people of Vilnius for more than one decade. It will make it possible to ensure the extraction and further use of secondary raw materials, so we will be able to raise environmental standards even more", says the mayor of the city of Vilnius Valdas Benkunskas.
According to the manager of Vilniaus vandenų Saulius Savicks, it is extremely important for the company that Vilnius residents can drink pure, excellent quality water from the tap every day. However, it is equally important to efficiently deal with the city's wastewater - in one day alone, residents of the capital and businesses operating in the city create more than 100 cubic meters of wastewater.
In the last five years, the city has grown, the habits of the inhabitants and the solutions used in the household have changed: the amount of sewage is increasing, more and more diverse chemicals enter it, and the cleaning of which requires more and more complex technologies.
"The Vilnius sewage treatment plant is an example of a modern circular economy. It is not only adapted to the needs of the future of a rapidly growing city, allows to return purified water back to nature, but also processes the remaining waste into a valuable secondary raw material - green biogas for the production of heat and electricity, and gives the thermally treated sludge to the production of compost, which is used to grow greenery or damaged land to restore the surface layers", says S. Savickas
After the completion of the first phase of reconstruction work, not only the capacity of the treatment plant increases, but also the quality of cleaning increases - the treatment plant will already contain extremely small particles of up to 6 mm. in 2024 after the completion of the second stage of the reconstruction of the Vilnius wastewater treatment plant in the summer, the wastewater will be treated according to the highest HELCOM standards applied in the Nordic countries. The treatment plant will contain the smallest plastic, fiber and other microparticles in the wastewater (up to the smallest size of 12 microns), thus ensuring the protection of the Neries river ecosystem.
"It is extremely important that the reconstruction of the first stage of the treatment plant is financed with the solidarity money of the European Union - it was given as much as 80 percent. intensity financing from European Union funds. This means that these investments will not rest on the shoulders of the capital's residents and businesses. The remaining part of the required funds was secured by a loan from the European Investment Bank on favorable terms for "Vilniaus vandenys". The investment amount of the first stage of the refinery amounts to 37,1 million. Euros, and the value of the first and second stages of reconstruction will reach 50 million. euros", says S. Savickas.
UAB "Arginta" performed the works of the first stage of the reconstruction of the treatment plant. During them, the mechanical cleaning circuit of the treatment plant was reconstructed, where coarse and fine waste is cleaned. The biological treatment chain was also expanded and reconstructed - bioreactors and a secondary precipitator. They remove biodegradable pollutants from wastewater.
The reconstruction of the Vilnius sewage treatment plant was started in 2020. in August. The second stage of the reconstruction is currently underway, during which the primary clarifiers are being renovated, which will separate fats and oil products from the wastewater even more efficiently. A tertiary cleaning chain is also being installed, where the smallest microparticles of materials will be cleaned.
Next year, an automatic system will also be installed in the treatment plant, which will connect the Vilnius sewage treatment plant with the treatment plants of major European cities in the virtual space. The treatment plants that exchange data among themselves will be able to make the most effective decisions for atypical situations or increased pollution, conserve energy resources and ensure the strictest environmental standards.
