EconEt Group customEr maGazinE1 | 2017

smart WatEr manaGEs consumption pattErns astana EXpo 2017 in KazaKhstancElEbration With 100-yEar-old Finland

Global challEnGEs in WatEr manaGEmEnt

tEmpEraturE aFFEcts thE Facility’s opErations

2

EconEt Group customEr maGazinE aQ

3 Editorial: Excellent export

4 on the surface: astana EXpo 2017, World Water day, sampi, sport sponsorship, slamex container, terms explained

8 smart Water guides consumption patterns

11 dewaco’s next three decades

12 commerce & industry involved in development cooperation

13 a column about justice

14 matti iikkanen knows the development stages of water management

15 Global challenges in water management

16 how temperature affects the operations of a wastewater treatment plant

17 W-rix: expert water treatment in cold climates

18 bubbles: Vadim Fedorov, russian sales contacts, crafting, Ecoset

Contents 1 | 2017

8 smart Water

meters help to locate leaks, among

other things.

4 Kalle palanderStraight talk about sport sponsorship.

6 Forssa’s wastewater treatment plantOne of Econet’s largest projects in Finland.

17 Waterix®

Aerators, coolers and mixers work in all climates.

15 Working

water management improves living conditions and

promotes equality in the whole world.

>

>

2 3

For companies in the Finnish water industry, exporting is a real lifeline. this is because in Finland, the existing water management systems and equipment are already at a much better level than in many other countries in the world. additionally, Finland is a comparatively small market area. therefore we have to look beyond our country borders.

Currently, 95 per cent of Econet Group’s production is exported. dewaco’s products have been exported to more than 80 countries, and as a recent example, two large export agreements were signed for supplying chain scrapers to china and Venezuela. there have been new commissions from malaysia, uaE and Vietnam. slamex, in turn, has made important breakthroughs in the russian mar-ket, becoming involved in the pulp and paper industry. russia is an enormous market area with plenty of purchase potential, of which only very little has been utilized so far, and which is worth focusing on.

Kazakhstan, the largest republic in central asia, is an interesting export destination alongside russia. Econet has already started active marketing there, having also entered into an agency contract with a local company,

too Wl-astana. held in astana in the coming summer, the international exhibition EXpo 2017 will make the capital of Kazakhstan a focal point of the entire world. Finland will also be participating in this exhibition with a count-ry pavilion, and Finnish Water Forum along key water industry companies will have their own sections within it.

Econet has been actively involved in building the clean Water section together with Finnish Water Forum, and in planning the Water days held during the three-month international exhibition. Wl-astana has also been locally involved in the preparation works, and in the press events held in astana. i believe that the-re is demand for the equipment manufactured by Econet Group, so currently, making these products known, and reaching an interested customer base is of utmost importance. For this, the World Expo is a great channel.

 

matti leppäniemimanaging directorEconet Group

Excellent export

Econet’s Customer Magazine AQissue no. 1 april 2017

PublisherEconet oymalminkaari 5Fin-00700 helsinki, Finlandphone no +358 9 836 6250www.econetgroup.fi

Editor-in-chiefmatti leppäniemi

Producermagnolia media oy Eija Öhrnberg

Editing and layout magnolia media oy

Graphic design rinssi GraFdesign

Cover photoistockphoto

Back cover photoW-rix oy

Printingsp-paino oy, nurmijärvi

Papercover G-print 250 gr pages G-print 90 gr

Print runFinnish version 2 500 copiesEnglish version 1 500 copiesrussian version 1 000 copies

TranslationsEnglish version ABC Oy

issn 1799-7763

Editorial

ECONETWater for Life

Econet will be participating at the 2017 World Expo in Astana, Kazakhstan.

Econet Group is a water and environment technology service company. The Group includes Econet Ltd, Dewaco Ltd, and Oy Slamex Ab. Helsinki-based Econet designs and offers solutions for clean water and environment globally. Laitila-based Dewaco, in turn, is specialised in sludge thickening, dewatering and sludge removal. Lahti-based Slamex designs and manufactures equipment for treatment of water and wastewater. The Group’s turnover amounts to about EUR 22 million.

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– i Got my first sponsorship dur-ing my first year of high school. it was a mobira cell phone, valued at 6 000 marks. the sponsor was a service station owned by my father’s sister: aitolahti teboil, Kalle reminisced.

after winning the slalom world championship in 1999, Kalle headed back to the same service station and paid his debt of gratitude by giving out roses to the service station customers.

– the first sponsor is very important for a young athlete. and for the parents, of course, who are one of the biggest sponsors.

Kalle’s late father and coach Jouni palander financed Kalle’s career until he was about twenty years old. at worst, the annual budget was 100 000 marks.

– my father asked me every spring whether i intended to train that summer, or start running er-rands at outukumpu. Every time, i promised to train for another summer.

– i still had a job as well. We had a honey business, Kallen hunajayhtymä, where i worked in the summers. all of the profits went straight into alpine skiing. during the best years, we sold 600-800 kilos of Kalle’s honey to natural food stores, Kalle laughed.

as he was accepted to the national team and became more successful, there were more sponsors and more earnings. in addition to the sponsors

of the Finnish ski association, Kalle started entering into his own, personal sponsorship agreements.

– in my own deals, i can influence my own things. i’ve often criticised how the as-sociation’s sponsors think they own someone, and assume that we are available and ready 24/7.

Kalle then gave the example of a World cup held at Kitzbühel, when the cEo

of a top-notch German watch company, the group sponsor, demanded that the competitors had dinner with the company’s clients on the evening before the competition.

– the sports manager said that the athletes would not be available. then, mr big shot sponsor announced that the athletes will be available, the athletes will show up, and the athletes will smile. and that’s what we did, just a bit annoyed, Kalle said, not sparing any expletives.

Kalle does not envy contem-porary athletes.

– nowadays, it’s tougher get-ting sponsors. companies don’t have extra money, and there’s also more bureaucracy. however, sponsorship is very important, particularly to young athletes, so that they can even do sports at all. i’ll forever be grateful to the sponsors of my early career, who really had faith in what i was doing, Kalle concluded.

Sponsorship makes young athletes’progress possible

ESSi Lillman, Econet’s ambassador for clean Water, has been training all winter for the Finnish and Eu-ropean championships that will be held this summer. her bronze medal for the 400 m medley from the nordic Junior championships in december gives confi-dence for the future. besides tough training sessions, a determined nature, and motivation, competitive sport also requires financial investments. according to Essi’s father, Jouni Lillman, his daughter’s annual competition budget is in the ballpark of 6 000 Euros.

Essi is grateful for her sponsor’s support. – From our club, i know only one other swimmer

with a sponsor. young athletes really need financial support, Essi gave praise.

For Econet, supporting the ambassador for clean Water means highlighting the significance of water, in addition to improving company visibility.

– the main idea behind this sponsorship is to make people notice how much water is present in our everyday lives. after all, it’s easy to take water for granted, pondered Matti Leppäniemi, managing director of Econet.

– money is necessary for the progress of a young athlete. usually, the parents end up being the main sponsors, but i think that companies could be more involved in supporting young athletes.

in addition to financial support, Essi’s sponsorship agreement also includes interviews for the aQ magazine, and possible appearances at various corporate events. according to leppäniemi, readers are very interested in following the progress story of the young athlete.

Econet’s support for Essi goes through the trai-ning foundation of the Finnish athletes Foundation.

according to Rainer Anttila, the spokesman of the Finnish athletes Foundation, the training foundation is meant for individual athletes whose personal sporting income is at least 800 Euros per year. the foundation ensures that the sponsorship takes place in accordance with the tax legislation.

the foundation is safe and easy for sponsors and athletes alike, as the foundation will deal with all checks and notifications related to book-keeping and taxation, he said.

having been looking after athletes’ affairs for de-cades, anttila has witnessed changes in sponsorship agreements mirror the variations in the economy. sponsorships have not increased at the same pace as wages, and contract periods have become shorter. making a living can be challenging for athletes.

the demands for professional athletes have also become higher, and ever younger athletes have to start competing.

– so that young athletes would be able to rise to the international level, they need sponsor support at a younger age than before, anttila emphasised.

”Athletes never forget their first sponsor”

The former alpine skier Kalle Palander is still grateful to the sponsors he had at the beginning of his career, who believed in him and helped him on his way to becoming a world champion.

Text & photo riikka mäkinen

Sources: Sponsor insight Finland and Taloustutkimus

LAST year, companies sponsored sports in Finland with 137 million Euros.

in 2016, swimming was sponsored by about half a million Euros. The largest share of sponsorship resources went to ice hockey, which amounts to nearly 40 per cent of all sports sponsorship.

FinniSH people assessed swimming as the 12th most valued sport. in Taloustutkimus’ survey “Sponsorship and sport value systems”, the most valued sports were ice hockey, figure skating, and soccer.

Kalle Palander,world slalom champion 1999.

5 4

AFLOAT

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there are more than 187 188 lakes in Finland with an area of over five hundred square metres?

it is cheaper to get clean water from wastewater, compared to purifying seawater?

recovering potassium and magnesium from water, and water recycling will be increasingly more important?

Did you know that…

Did you know that…

Did you know that…

EconEt oy is one of the main partners for when the 100th anniversary of Finnish independence is celebrated in Vietnam. the Finnish embassy in hanoi together with its partners will be organising Finnish-themed programmes and various events

with the overarching theme “together”. throug-hout the year, the purpose is to present the image of Finland and Finnish know-how in various fields. the year will culminate with the centenary reception held on 6 december.

Econet a partner for Finland 100

in rEcEnt years, the international maritime organization (imo) has made several decisions with regard to updating maritime regulations. the new limitations that will be applicable to all of the world’s seas, will alleviate problems in Finland caused particularly by maritime traffic in

the baltic sea, for example the discharge of solid waste and sewage in the sea, as well as oil transshipments between tankers. updates to these sets of regula-tions will also affect marine environment protection legislation, which will need updating on its part.

Getting marine pollution under control

Developing Markets – growth programmeaimEd particularly at smE-s, the purpose of the developing markets growth programme run by Finpro is to increase the percentage of Finnish companies in un tenders, and to get more Finnish companies to participate in tenders in Vietnam and africa. the target group of this growth programme includes companies with business experience in these regions, and who are interested in and ready for investing in long-term partnerships.

the growth programme aims to improve awareness of the un procurement system in Finland, as well as helping companies with practical matters related to un tenders. the company being a registered vendor in the un procurement division is a prerequisite for participating in tenders.

Vtt, the technical research centre of Finland, views wastewater as raw mate-rial that can be reclaimed for producing nitrogen, phosphorus and carbon. this idea will be promoted further during the year-long resource container project which began in late 2016. Efficient nut-rient recycling will reduce the nutritional

load causing eutrophication in water sys-tems, and the climate damage caused by manufacturing fertilisers. municipal wastewater treatment plants, technology suppliers, the chemical industry as well as soil conditioner manufacturers in particular benefit from the outcomes of this project.

Wastewater for producing phosphorus, nitrogen and carbon

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ECOnET GROUP’S inTERnATiOnAL REFEREnCES

Aerosol mixer tank, Stavropol Region, Russia

Secondary clarifiers for Peterhof sewage treatment plant, St. Petersburg, Russia

Chain scraper systems for rainwater basin for a pulp and paper mill irkutsk Region, Russia

Renovation of secondary clarification in biological wastewater treatment plant for a pulp and paper mill, Arkhangelsk Region, Russia

Condensate treatment system for South-West Thermal power station, St. Petersburg, Russia

Water and condensate treatment plant for South-West Thermal power station, St. Petersburg, Russia

Modernisation of a water treatment plant for Kirishi power station, Kirishi, Russia

Sewage treatment plant, supply of mechanical equipment, Kaliningrad region, Russia

Supply of process equipment for sewage collector tunnel, St. Petersburg, Russia

Renovation of Sestroretsk sewage treat-ment plant, supply of equipment, Russia

South-West Wastewater treatment plant, equipment engineering, St. Petersburg, Russia

Gorelovo meat-processing factory, supply of mechanical equipment, Russia

Sewage treatment plant, equipment delivery, Huainan City, China

Tai Po Water treatment plant, equipment delivery, Hong Kong, China

Zhuzhou Hexi sewage treatment plant, equipment delivery, Zhuzhou City, China

El Annania sewage treament plant, project management and site supervision, Damietta, Egypt

Montes del Plata project, equipment delivery and installation supervision, Punta Pereira, Uruguay

Water supply project in Vinh City neighborhood, Vinh City, Vietnam

Pre-feasibility study, process and plant design of wastewater treatment processes, City of Pleiku, Vietnam

Consultancy and design of wastewater treatment processes, Bin Thuan, Vietnam

Process and plant design of sewage treatment plant, Dien Bien Phu, Vietnam

Phan Rang-Thap Cham, process and plant design of sewage treatment plant, Phan Rang-Thap Cham, Vietnam

6 7

Updated wastewater treatment plant showing good results at Forssa

sanni Joensuu

The treatment results of Forssa’s updated wastewater treatment plant are well below the threshold values. it is important to meet the licence conditions, as the treated wastewater is discharged into Loimijoki.

– WE arE getting good results thanks to the renovated process parts, a completely new aeration line, and flo-tation. it’s great to see that the plant works as it should, said Jarmo Sarvi, Econet oy’s project manager.

Econet carried out the extension and renovation of Forssa’s waste-water treatment plant together with Forssa’s local construction company rakennus timo-pekka oy in 2014-2016.

– this project was one of Econet’s largest projects in Finland, sarvi said.

previously, Forssa’s wastewa-ter treatment plant had difficulties in meeting the required licence conditions, because the plant was outdated, and the industrial activities in the area burdened the plant.

based on the measurements carried out in december, the total phosphorus is 0.085 mg/l in the outgoing water, while the threshold value according to the new licence conditions is 0.7 mg/l. phosphorus is a nutrient that promotes eutrophica-tion and oxygen depletion in lakes.

the amount of solid matter was also below the threshold value: the amount of solid matter in the plant’s outgoing water is 4.6 mg/l, while the threshold value is 25.

solid mater can consist of municipal and industrial waste, for example. it is important to remove the solid matter so that the environ-ment does not become polluted, and that the equipment used for treating wastewater will not break.

the goal is to respond to the

threshold values as well as possible, and Forssa’s wastewater treatment plant responds to these very well.

– it seems that the results of the wastewater treatment plant will be under the limits in any circumstances all year round, sarvi said.

Lake water quality indicatorssolid matter – solid matter can con-sist of municipal and industrial waste, for example. it is important to remove the solid matter so that the environ-ment does not become polluted, and that the equipment used for treating wastewater will not break.

total phosphorus – the total amount of the different forms of phosphorus. phosphorus is a nutrient that promotes eutrophication and oxygen depletion in lakes.

Jari Virtanen

at thE beginning of this year, dewaco oy, a member of Econet Group, decided to start using energy-efficient iE3 electric motors in all of their equipment. according to the estimates, the new iE3-level electric motors installed in dewaco’s systems can save up to 70 000 kilowatt hours of electricity every year, compared to the iE1-level motors.

the amount of electricity saved corresponds to the annual electricity consumption of three electrically heated Finnish households.

this energy-efficient electric motor is up to 18 per cent more efficient in wastewater treatment compared to the previous iE1-level motor. by choosing an energy-efficient electric motor, the wastewater treatment plant will be able to reduce its own operating expenses.

Electric motors use a lot of electricity for treating wastewater. For example, chain scrapers operating with electric motors are used for wastewater clarifica-tion. chain scrapers remove sludge and scum from the clarification tanks around the clock, all year round.

the electric motors will be supplied to dewaco by the company’s long-term business partner nord Gear oy. nord Gear has been manufacturing electric motors of lower efficiency levels.

We at dewaco also want to do our share for reducing our carbon footprint. Electric motors are an important part of water treatment, and they use a lot of electricity, but we can still make the right choices with our actions, said Jari Virtanen, dewaco’s plant manager.

the iE standards specified by the

Eu can be divided into three different efficiency levels. in motors, the iE1 efficiency level corresponds to a normal efficiency level, while iE3 corresponds to a very high efficiency level.

A year’s worth of heating of three Finnish households saved by using new electric motors

THE COnTAinER shipment dispatched from Slamex, Lahti, in late October last year, arrived at Haiphong harbour in Vietnam at the beginning of this year. After months of customs formalities, the seven containers with water treatment equipment con-tinued their journey on trucks to the wastewater treatment plant project.

The containers will not actually be unloaded at the destination, but they will also function as storage facilities. Workers will retrieve goods from the containers for installations on the work site when necessary.

Containers arrived in Vietnam

AFLOAT

6 7 7

TERMS ExPLAinED

a hydrocyclonE is a device for separating two different substances. the cyclone works with a centrifugal force, which is why substances can be separated if they have a different density. For example: oil and water, sand and air. the greater the density difference, the better the device works.

Itämeren pelastustyö jatkuu

Hydrocyclone

Water for Life

Growth from water technologythE GoVErnmEnt is preparing a growth strategy for the water industry, while Finpro is working on an export programme for the water industry. according to Finnish Water Forum, there are many water industry key players in Finland, but generally speaking, the threshold for starting business operations in the export markets is still high.

With regard to exporting Finnish water know-how, the main goal is improved well-being in Finland, or to

be specific – more jobs, said Matti Leppäniemi, the managing director of Econet Group, in autumn 2016 at a workshop for promoting export, held by teknologia- and Kemianteolli-suus ry as well as Finpro and Finnish Water Forum.

Export can begin after brave focus on and specific actions in the target regions. an understanding of the client’s circumstances and requirements is key.

95 per cent of Econet’s equip-

ment production is exported. For example, the Group is involved in contracting projects in Vietnam, china, and malaysia. however, there are plenty of challenges in these countries. it is important to be familiar with the local conditions and corporate culture; and the collabora-tion between the private and public sector plays a key role. identifying client needs helps to create a com-prehensive service package, and to achieve the best end result.

sturgeon aciperser oxyrinchus

this endangered fish species is one of the oldest fish species in the world, found in the wild mainly in north america. sturgeon became extinct in the baltic sea region in the early 20th century due to overfishing, with the damming of rivers vital for its life-cycle also sealing its fate. the sturgeon that had once disappeared from the baltic sea has been reintroduced from canada, in the sea near Germany. time will tell whether there will be a new sturgeon population in our nearby seas.

sturgeon can grow up to 3–4 metres in length, and live up to a hundred years old. the largest fish in Finland was a 177-kilo sturgeon caught from the Karelian isthmus in 1934. this toothless beast mainly feeds on benthos, and it is not dangerous for humans. sturgeon meat is considered to be tasty. the roe of the sturgeon species found in the caspian sea and the Volga is called caviar, which is an important part of feasts particularly in russia.

85 per cent of all the lakewater of the world is located in the ten

largest lakes in the world?

Did you know that…

our food is one of the three largest sources environmental pollution, and it also affects the well-being of the baltic sea. the fish species native to Finland, such as herring and pike, are perfect for those concerned about the climate. Farmed fish only contain little hazardous substances, as their food composition is regulated.

the online service FoodWEb is a new way to identify the effects of the food chain and dietary choices on the baltic sea. the goal of the project “the baltic environment, food and health: from habits

to awareness” was to create practices with which every inhabitant of the baltic sea region could look after the condition of their sea.

the FoodWEb project is coordinated by mtt agrifood research Finland, partnered with syKE (Finnish Environment institute), the university of latvia, the university of tartu, and the ahhaa Foundation from tartu. the project was funded by the central baltic interreg iV a programme.foodweb.ut.ee

Make an impact with your food choices

Biological waste treatment by anaerobic digestion, feasibility study and process consulting, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Water supply system project, project and process consulting, Hanoi, Vietnam

Thai Binh water supply project, Thai Binh Town, Vietnam

Tam Ky water supply project, supply of process equipment, Tam Ky Town, Vietnam

Technical assistance for water re-habilitation works, Hanoi and Haiphong, Vietnam

Hanoi water supply project, Phase ii, Hanoi, Vietnam

UnDP Management and Training, Hanoi, Vietnam

Hanoi water supply project, Hanoi, Vietnam

Makkah South sewage treatment plant, equipment delivery, Saudi Arabia

Rehabilitation of drinking water treatment plant in Drobeta Turnu Severin, Romania

Upgrading of the water supply and waste water supply facilities in Bacau, Romania

Vaida sewage treatment plant, process design and equipment supply, Tallinn, Estonia

Viljandi Central sewage treatment plant, supply of equipment, Estonia

Ventspils drinking water plant, supply of equipment, Latvia

Development of water services in Jelgava, Latvia

Supply of Wiser flotator WPF-600, marine application, Germany

Supply of Wiser flotator WPF-1, marine application, The netherlands

Did you know that...DEWA Belt Presses and Dewa thickeners have been manu-factured and deli-vered to all five continents,total 1 000 deliveries.

ECOnET GROUP’S inTERnATiOnAL REFEREnCES

98

Clean water is the most valuable natural resource, and if the current developments continue, it will unfortunately become even less common. Some European areas are already experiencing water shortages in the summer, and

some places in the rest of the world have year-round shortages – in large metropolises, the water crisis is looming right underneath the surface.

EconEt Smart Water views

antti herlevi Photos istockphoto

One specific method for fixing the lack of clean water is to find solutions for monitoring the overall condition of

the water network and to work on making the entire water facility more efficient.

Globally speaking, the water meter mar-kets are experiencing a strong growth, and are in the billions. The market share of smart meters will increase to about 40 per cent du-ring the next eight years. Particularly within the technology market, competition is very tough, and technology suppliers are pressu-red into lowering prices. In the field of water meters and information distribution, Econet wants to profile itself as a service provider, not just as a company selling meters. But it

is clear that good service re-quires excellent technology, which we have been developing all this time. Now is the time for developing new service concepts.

Improved monitoring, automation and property management can lead to big savings and better returns for water facilities. Advan-ces in sensors and measurement techniques enable to have new methods for collecting data, and to ensure that water resources are managed safely and efficiently. Digitalisation, or including smart measurements in

Every customer’s consump-tion is known, as well as the precise amount of water sup-plied to different distribution areas. this information can be used to optimise water distribution and save energy.

The meter can give real-time information about the pres-sure in the different parts of the water supply network,

which can then be optimised so that the customer will al-ways have the suitable pres-sure available.

All information required for billing is always available. customers can be certain that their billing is precise, transparent, and fair. this will also encourage customers to change their own consump-

tion habits.

There is a big problem with facility assets being tied to expensive underground infrastructures, while facility income varies according to the actual consumption. this is why precise consump-tion measurements are particularly important for managing the yield structure

of the facility. The water facility will be able to move and minimise the overload in different parts of the water supply network. this makes it possible to use the distribution network as efficiently as possible. thanks to the transparency, it is pos-sible to predict consumption developments, and to opti-

mise consumption, for ex-ample by changing the tariffs according to the time of day or the season. it is possible to focus on preventative work, and re-sources will become available for other operations, which create added value and im-prove the water facility’s efficiency.

Smart water readers and the digitalisation of the system make the distribution network transparent, and create concrete advantages, as in the following examples:

>>

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now is the time for developing new

service concepts.

water treatment facilities will ex-pand the facility’s operation possi-bilities by creating a comprehensive overall view of the entire distributi-on network, all the way to end cus-tomers. Smart meters can improve customer relationships, optimise the basic functions of the facility, and make quality control, producti-vity and infrastructure management more efficient.

Guaranteed savings with a service packageThis development in water supply systems has experienced a strong start particularly in Europe and in

other developed countries and continents; hopeful-

ly, Finland

will not be too far behind. One great incentive for us is the decree requiring apartment-specific meters in new and renovated real estate objects. The original purpose of this was to promote saving water. However, it is a matter rather similar to that of the electricity supply network: remote meters enable to monitor the condition of the network and to find leaks, to an even greater extent than a single user being able to save water. In a country the size of Finland, the corresponding savings could reach to hundreds of millions.

The issues of a particular site and its corresponding physical phenomena must be understood, and then a service package will be

>> The parts of a water supply net-work can be arranged in an order of importance based on their con-dition and urgency, when planning maintenance and repair works. The water facility will provide their customers with an opportunity to check their own water consump-tion online. customers can conve-niently track their browser (mobile device), and see how they could save water.

10

ECOnET provides a meter reading service of different remote meters for their customers (regardless of the meter brand), and using meter information for pin-pointing leaks, billing, or other management; or its own unique ultrasonic adaptive water meter, which measures both pressure and flow. if necessary, the meter can be turned into an analyser, with a sensitivity 100 times greater than that of an ordinary pressure or flow meter. in the analyser mode, the meter will listen for the pressure pulses as well as the noise. As a new service, we offer a leak pin-pointing service, which uses the network’s flow and pressure information by using matrix calculations. These kinds of measurements and calculations help to locate problem areas.

The system communicates either over a SigFox radio or a 3G/4G mobile phone network. if necessary, communication can be based on the customer’s own network, e.g. LoRa (Long Range radio). The Sigfox network is a global radio network designed for the internet of Things, which a company called Connected Finland is currently building in Finland; it is promised to have 85 per cent coverage in the entire country. The SigFox radio has excellent technical features, it is simple and consumes very little power. in november 2016, Econet entered into a substantial cooperation agreement with Connected Finland.

Likewise, we entered into a historic supply contract for M2M (Machine to Machine) interfaces, with the mobile phone operator DnA. The contract period is ten years. DnA’s interfaces and network help with the real-time reading of water meters. The interface will be installed directly into the reading device, ESCU, or into our new water meter, which will send the meter’s readings to the cloud service over DnA’s mobile network.

built for the customer. It is not just a question of technology, but the simultaneous understanding of the whole and its parts. One of the challenges with forecasting the potential of new services and the corresponding business operations is that only a few operators can currently see clearly enough all the possibilities that real digitalisation and in-creased information can achieve. In order to solve problems, we need the right implementation of technologies, and courageous visions about eve-rything that could be achieved with this new, ea-sily available information – the goal is to have an extensive Econet Smart Water service platform.

internal eyes of the network One clear area where the problem mentioned at the start – water shortage, or the insufficiency of clean water – could be efficiently managed is the analysis of the condition of and leaks in

Econet’s range and cooperation with operators

The meters can be used to monitor pressure waves, and pin-point leaks accordingly.

water supply networks. However, with current technologies, it is not possible to have reliable, reasonably-priced monitoring of the condition and a hydraulic overview of the water supply network. The measuring information of new remote smart meters and their automatic analysis are key factors for supporting new service packages related to the management of water supply networks. Econet started this development work a few years ago, and we currently have brand new technology, calcula-ting methods, and services for the customers, which are based on these new developments. Our main product is a completely new kind of combination meter, with temperature, pressure and flow metering in the same compact unit, as well as the calculation algorithms that use this measurement information – the internal eyes of the network.

If there is a sufficient number of these pressu-re/flow meters in the network, we can pin-point leaks by using static pressure and flow readings. We can also monitor any inaccuracies of the readers, almost in real time. If the meters are sufficiently sensitive, they can be used to monitor pressure waves progressing in the network, and find leaks based on this information, as well as to monitor the condition of the network, much more precisely and affordably than before.

the goal is to build an extensive Econet smart Water service platform.

10 11

P opulation growth is almost un-controllable, and rapidly in-creasing urbanisation thereby

causes a lot of pressure, particularly for the construction and maintenance of water infrastructure in large cities.

It is evident that water supply prob-lems in large growth centres will only get more extensive, and an increasing amount of investments must be aimed at these, otherwise the situation can become completely unsustainable, and at worst, could lead to the dark con-sequences of a total “water crisis”. The decision-makers simply cannot afford to take this risk. Of course, sparsely populated areas as well as the industry will continue to need constant further investments, so there will be plenty of work in the future.

in the game, but how…Dewaco is a rather small and agile company, with its distinctive, world-renowned products, extensive refer-ences, a good reputation and wide distribution networks, exporting to nearly one hundred countries since the late 1980s. The result of the previous three decades of work is a foundation which can be used to build on for the next three decades.

It is natural that Dewaco will make use of the recogni-tion and awareness it has achieved, as well as its remark-able

references when drawing up future strategies. All needless tinkering must be tossed aside, and the focus must remain on a selected, rather narrow product range, which is in demand now and in the future.

Concentrating on further devel-oping products that are already suc-cessful gives Dewaco the great op-portunity to be in the forefront when suppliers are selected for large pro-jects that require extensive know-how. Both chain scraper systems as well as sludge treatment facilities naturally belong to this product group, and De-waco has been showing its capabili-ties in supplying these products al-ready since the 1990s, and has since achieved a significant position as the leading global supplier, and I do not consider this to be an exaggeration. In my understanding, it would be unrea-sonable to direct resources at some-thing other than the development and global marketing of the above-mentioned products. This is what we know, and this is what we are focusing on, there is plenty of demand for it.

Can we accept the challenge? Nothing comes for free; it must be considered, researched and under-stood what the resources must be used on. The company must be aware of the client’s wishes and needs. It is even more important to improve a client’s understanding of what their actual needs are, i.e. which solution is the most suitable for the client. We must be able to think of pros and cons, and argue our case.

The client is waiting for good solu-tions, and is ready to change their pre-vious views if we can clearly indicate a better alternative. Already in the 90s, we realised what a problem land use is in metropolises. An example: back then, the common practice was to deal with sedimentation with round pools, which require a lot of surface area. We started “nagging” our clients about the many advantages of linear pools, such as the surface area, easier extensions, and the possibility to build pools on top of each other. This argu-mentation has paid off, and currently, straight pools are the most common way to build these, and best of all –

there is a clear win-win sit-

uation, which I’m sure all parties are happy with.

What about the product story? Manufacturing becomes more a supply chain managed assembly work, quality requirements grow, there is remote use, there is Internet, chatting, and commu-nication between products. The com-pany must be able to accept the chang-ing requirements of the field, and adapt to these. The company must be able to draw up a game strategy that will work also amidst changes.

It is great to build a capable team with key players. Dewaco’s key play-ers, its foundation, are scraper systems and sludge treatment, so there is noth-ing leaking downstairs. The midfield is dominated by experienced but agile and eager players who are competent and future-oriented. At the top, there are forward players hovering around, fearless and keen to try new play-ing methods: nothing can really scare them or stop them. If this sort of as-sembly is not successful, nothing is.

The product story requires for the staff to have an open mind about the overall picture, and act while taking into

consideration all of the components.Everyone must be aware of

the goal, and be committed to it. Management, design, manu-facturing, sales, marketing, ad-ministration and all interest groups: all of these must cooper-ate seamlessly. If and when this is done, adopting and implement-ing new things is not a problem, but a part of natural development, learning new things, and applying new knowledge in practice.

In this line of work, employees who are competent and unpreju-

diced, with an open mind towards new things, are

the key which will fit nicely in the lock of

the future.

DEWACO’S nExT THREE DECADES

markku sihvonen Photo dewaco ltd, istockphoto

The heading may as well be “Dewaco’s next one hundred years”, because it is mainly the company’s own business operations that affect its existence, development, and position on the world map. Does that sound funny? no, because it is unlikely that the environmental problems of the world can be completely solved.

There will always be more problems which need contemporary solutions and technical applications.

12

Some speeches, focusing on how Finland’s own issues and Fin-land’s own poor people should be taken care of first, have not

really affected the grants. Nonetheless, during times of economic hardship, de-velopment cooperation grants have usu-ally been vigorously cut, perhaps precisely because it has not been a hot potato.

Back in the early years, a few years af-ter Finland had joined the UN and had its first experience with international de-velopment aid, some officials from the MFA thought that participating in devel-opment aid could be a way for Finland to get the label of a Western country, during a situation where the Finno-Soviet YYA Treaty and Finlandisation were seen as a burden dragging the country towards the east. Other Nordic countries were al-ready active in development aid, and that would help Finland to be seen as a Nor-dic country, too. Development aid was a valuable political tool, but the grants were still at a modest level. However, Prime Minister Sukselainen had even better foresight, and as early as 1960, he gave a speech stating that in case Finland wishes to make a name for itself in the future, as well as to gain access to markets in under-

developed countries, we cannot sit on the sidelines while work is done on develop-ing the conditions in these countries. In the late 1970s, when there was a shift in development cooperation towards project-based operations, the MFA hired Finnish companies to carry out projects. In some projects, the companies were active and showed initiative, but as de-velopment cooperation was still a new thing, and when the MFA did not have any critical control over it, there were also some failures among the projects. The involvement of Finnish companies was

criticised, and the most uptight develop-ment cooperation activists even protested against the involvement of Finnish com-panies, although making use of Finnish competence and know-how in support-ing the programmes of developing coun-tries has always been emphasised on the political level. When the grants started growing considerably from the year 1980 onwards, the industry’s interest in devel-opment cooperation also increased.

In 1986, the government presented the law on concessional credit to the par-liament, and stated in its reasoning that,

“the economic situation and problems in various developing countries are different, and therefore also the financing needs are different. Gift aid alone is not suf-ficient to cover all those financing needs required by Finland’s expanding finan-cial cooperation with various developing countries”.

Concessional credit schemes were a form of funding where public develop-ment aid was combined with commercial funding as concessional credit. This made it possible to provide credit for develop-ing countries on favourable terms, for their financial and social development. The goal of the bill was to increase the to-tal cash flow directed at developing coun-tries. Concessional credit was used to fi-nance tenders promoting the economic development of developing countries. The task of the MFA was to assess the develop-ment impact of the projects, and accord-ingly approve the credit as concession-al credit. With the law stipulated by the Parliament, an instrument was created for companies to participate in development cooperation, and so that companies would show initiative about the matter. The Par-liament had created a hot potato inside development cooperation that the activists

tauno Kääriä, managing director, ambassador Photo istockphoto

Finnish industry inVolVEd in dEVElopmEnt coopEration

Development aid, more recently known as development cooperation, has not really been a hot potato in Finland. During election times, there has been hardly any discussion about development cooperation at political

gatherings and community halls, either by the candidates or the voters. in the surveys commissioned by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, development cooperation has had rather a lot of support over the years.

public sector investment Facility or piF investment support for developing countries is one of Finland’s financial instruments related to development policy. its goal is to support investments in the public sector of developing countries, with these investments adhering to the un goals of sustainable development and using Finnish know-how and technology.

the investment projects must be based on the target country’s own development needs, and the target country has the main responsibility for the overall costs of the project. this instrument helps to support the purchase price of the investment project with development cooperation funds, and the interest of the export credit arranged for the project funding, in which case the investment expenses for the developing country are considerably reduced. the ministry for Foreign affairs is responsible for granting funds from the piF instrument resources. in turn, Finnvera, the official Export credit agency of Finland, is responsible for granting a buyer credit guarantee for investment credit.

investment support for developing countries

13

i liKE whodunits; i like, like. you know, like, i devour detective stories! i do it constantly and all the time. i like Jo nesbo, ruth rendell, matti rönkä, boris akunin, and of course mankell. i think henning mankell is the best one of the lot. my opinion matters at this time, and it is very important to take it into consideration. and on top of that, it’s not over-analysed.

the heroes of these books (yeah but these are stories about heroes!) are clearly distinguishable from standard law enforcement officers. they go against the flow. they have issues with authorities. nesbo’s harry hole is an incurable drunkard, while mankell’s Wallander and rönkä’s Viktor Kärppä are wrestling with their own ghosts and pasts while solving crimes. neither do they shy away from questionable methods when trying to find the culprit. some-times they also fail in their attempts. sometimes, they are weak.

What these heroes have in common is their pursuit of absolute justice. they consider justice to be their highest value, and their most perfect virtue. it is the foundation of their police work, more so than law and rights and adhering to that. law-fulness is different from justice in the respect that actions and their conse-quences are evaluated in accordance with current laws and regulations. Justice may be handed out based on what a person looks like, and other practicalities. you know, these book heroes, like, hate injustice.

the sense of justice has been studied a lot, and in the light of re-cent research, it has been discovered that it is one of the basic characteris-tics of human brains. the feelings of justice, as well as anger and fear, are regulated by the amygdala, which is one of the oldest parts of the human brain from the evolutionary perspec-tive. When an individual feels that their rights or freedoms have been infringed upon, they feel angry. anger can lead to violence and revenge. re-venge may seem irrational, because it generally always brings damage to

the perpetrator, like almost always in the case of harry hole. in the police force, revenge is not a part of the ordinary bag of tricks.

i have been sentenced for a violation of occupational health and safety. a workplace health and safety inspector was inspecting one of our sites on consecutive weeks; made remarks, gave warnings, and stopped work. i was given a personal fine of 17,000 Euros, and i got a criminal record. although i believe this verdict was lawful, my sense of justice felt affronted. Why me? me, when i don’t even go to visit work sites, and follow domestic projects mainly as figures on my computer screen, why was i punished? my amygdala was upset for a week. my mind was a storm of injustice, unfairness, morals and even grace. all at once, i learned the les-son of entrepreneurial liability.

did i identify with the heroes of these books? Well yeah, no but not really, but yeah i do, like yeah but, sort of, understand them, you know.

A dictionary of the but-language:you know is a question with which the questioner wants to know if the listener has had similar experiences regarding the subject in question, and whether the listener knows at all what the questioner means. usually, the person asking is not expecting an answer, and even if they get an answer, they will just shrug it off.

like, an empty everyday filler that does not mean anything. the speaker tries to gain extra time for finding a thought or a simile in their mind, unsuccessfully.

yeah but, also used as well but. the matter is crystal clear for the listener, but the enforcement is postponed by invoking excuses.

no but, a corrective word with which the speaker corrects their own speech, or a mistake made by a previous speaker. no but is often a correction used for currently ongoing actions.

mats ahlnäs

About justice, like, yeah but, no but...”Freedom also includes the freedom to limit your own freedom.” J.Peltoniemi

felt able to criticise constantly, and which the Greens and the Left Alliance have proposed to abolish.

The law does not say this outright, but in practice, the credit was tied long-term with tenders made from Finland. That was what was supposed to happen, which is evident in the reasoning stipulated in the legislation, as well as practical arrangements. The finan-cial arrangements for concessional credit were made by Suomen Vientiluotto Oy. According to the decree, Valtiontakuukeskus was a guar-antor for the credit. In practice, all loan appli-cations and the related projects were handled by a so-called joint financing work group, after being prepared by Suomen Vientiluotto and the MFA. The head of the MFA’s development cooperation department was the chairman of the work group, and it also included high-level representatives from the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Ministry of Finance, as well as representatives from Suomen Vientiluotto, Ulkomaankauppaliitto, Vientitakuulaitos and Teollisuuden Keskusliitto. There was a strong emphasis on Finnish interest.

Opponents of concessional credit schemes have mistakenly claimed that the credit is used to give support to Finnish companies, although in fact, it is the developing country that takes out the loan, and for whom the loan is cheap in practice due to its subsidised inter-est. Concessional credit schemes are regulated through OECD’s export credit arrangement in order to avoid unhealthy competition among the exporting companies.

The world is constantly changing, and in 2000, the MFA decided to update the conces-sional credit scheme. Suomen Vientiluotto Oy had ceased to exist, and Leonia had grown in its place. Finnvera has replaced Valtiontakuuke-skus as Finland’s official export credit agency. The positive development effects of the projects were a prerequisite for granting credit. Accord-ing to the terms agreed to in the so-called Hel-sinki Package in 1992, it was not allowed to grant concessional credit for financially feasi-ble projects because in principle, such tenders should have had purely commercial financing available. However, the tenders had to have a positive impact on the national economy.

According to the new law, the MFA had to evaluate the developmental impact of the tenders. External specialists were used for this, and the joint financing work group was no longer needed. In order to avoid unhealthy competition, the OECD had to be notified about all projects before concessional cred-it was granted, so that competing countries would have been able to submit their objec-tions, if necessary. Alongside Finland’s accession to the EU, a whole range of loan-issuing banks opened up, with regard to banks operating in the EU or equivalent banks, instead of Vien-tiluotto OY/Leonia having an exclusive right.

With the new law, the MFA also updated the management of the tenders financed with concessional credit. It was still the MFA’s re-sponsibility to ensure the developmental im-

pact of the projects, and for that purpose, the MFA hired an external consultant under a framework agreement, to evaluate the feasi-bility, economic efficiency and administrative sustainability of every tender, as well as their economic, social and environmental develop-mental impact in accordance with the prin-ciples of sustainable development. Based on the post-project evaluations of some projects, it can be estimated that the projects financed with concessional credit have been successful. Nonetheless, some development cooperation activists continued to protest loudly against concessional credit, to the extent that the Min-ister for development cooperation (the Green Party) finally decided to close the money taps for these kinds of tenders, thus putting an end to the concessional credit scheme. The prom-ise about developing a replacement system for them was left unfulfilled.

However, with the new government, there were changes in Finland’s development policy. Improving employment figures, which was the core message of nearly all of the parties run-ning in the parliamentary election, also reflect-ed in development cooperation. According to the development policy of 2016, Finland is in-vested in such development cooperation where Finnish know-how and funding are especially significant and necessary. The purpose is also to improve Finnish companies’ participation opportunities in development cooperation, while making use of Finnish know-how and work. At the same time, commercial coopera-tion promoting sustainable development is supported by the operations of Team Finland. The government views Finnish companies as important partners in development coopera-tion, and encourages companies to apply ac-tively for development programmes financed by Finland. These ideas are also a reflection of the UN’s sustainable development strategy, which Finland’s development policy supports.

As a result of this new thinking, the MFA initiated the preparation of a replacement sys-tem for concessional credit in 2016, the pur-pose of which is to promote the opportuni-ties of Finnish companies in participating in development cooperation. The common good is that Finnish companies will act in develop-ing countries in a responsible way, supporting the goals of human rights and sustainable de-velopment. A new-generation investment sup-port for developing countries (an investment support instrument – Public Sector Invest-ment Facility) was introduced this year. It sup-ports public sector investments in developing countries, in order to strengthen the capacity of developing countries, while making use of Finnish technology and know-how. Invest-ment support includes a loan granted to the developing country, with Finnvera as the guar-antor of the loan. With relatively little fund-ing from Finland, other financing is mobilised in order to achieve important developmental impact. At the same time, the implementation of advanced solutions and technology is pro-moted.

14

t his is how Matti Iikkanen, a con-sultant in the water management business, remembers his career in

Russia. Recently retired, Iikanen’s last position was working as a consultant for Pöyry, but before that, he used to work for Suunnittelukeskus, as it was known at the time. In between, he was included in WaterPro Partner with his own business, and went to London by appointment from EBRD, the European Bank for Re-construction and Development.

Iikkanen studied for a M.Sc. degree at Otaniemi, majoring in water manage-ment. Russia became his “destiny” after his first business trip to Moscow in 1984.

– Most of all, I’ve followed the deve-lopment of water management in St. Pe-tersburg. After the Soviet period, things were slow to get started there, but by now, some results have been achieved that are not too embarrassing to present to the world.

– When in 1990, no less than 37 per cent of the wastewater of Leningrad (as it was known at the time) were directed to the Neva untreated, then in 2005, that fi-gure had dropped to five per cent. Appa-rently, the figure is just over one per cent these days, Iikkanen said.

A slow start to the Southern treatment plantIf Matti Iikkanen’s business days spent in Russia were all added up, they would amount to several years. Nevertheless, he has never actually lived in Russia. Instead, he has become very familiar with business hotels.

One of his first bigger projects was the analysis conducted by the Ministry of the Environment, regarding the most urgent environmental objects in the vicinity of Finland. It was completed in the autumn of 1991, a few months before the collap-se of the Soviet Union. In terms of the Baltic Sea, the most considerable objects turned out to be the wastewater treat-ment plants in St. Petersburg and Tallinn.

Back then, there were two large bio-logical water treatment plants in St. Petersburg, but their capacity was not sufficient, because the work on the Sout-hern wastewater treatment plant had not been finished.

– In the 1990s, during the entire de-cade, hardly anything actually happened. Indeed, YIT, a predecessor of the current Econet, implemented process changes for one aeration pool at St. Petersburg’s Nort-hern water treatment plant, so that it was able to remove phosphorus and nitrogen from the wastewater biologically. This sys-tem was a kind of a pilot project. It has proven to be a functional solution, and is still in use.

The Southern wastewater treatment plant of St. Petersburg jerked forward only in 2000, when its construction work started in earnest.

– At first, the contracting entity plan-ned to have it financed as a public pro-curement. However, the contractors of-fered a model where some of the funding would be organised from the private sec-tor. In the end, the contracting entity, i.e. Vodokanal St. Petersburg was interested in it, and this was the model they used.

The project was in preparation for a few years, until construction work began in 2003. A few years later, it was time for the inauguration ceremony of the plant.

– The wastewater treatment plant was completed on schedule, which caused great amazement in Russia. But perhaps an even bigger surprise for the contrac-ting entity was that we did not exceed the cost values, Iikkanen reminisced.

– The water treatment plant project was so successful that it was awarded at several international forums. The cont-ractor team was led by Econet’s prede-cessor, YIT, and it also included NCC and Skanska.

Keen to meet HELCOM’s requirementsAccording to Matti Iikkanen, Russia has had “mixed” attitudes about foreign cont-ributions to water conservation projects. When the economy of the country has been going well, the government has been keen to keep control in their own hands; and when the economy has been sputte-ring, there has been a more open attitude towards international cooperation.

– It takes a long time to build up trust in Russia. But when you have reach-ed that position, when people trust you, then they will listen to your advice.

I think that over the years, I’ve managed to get to this kind of position.

In Russia, organisations often centre around a single individual, and even in large organisations, decision-making may well be the responsibility of just one per-son. At St. Petersburg’s water company, Vodokanal, this person has been its ex officio manager, Felix Karmazinov. Officially, he has retired from the compa-ny management, but he is apparently still working on the company’s premises.

According to Iikkanen, St. Peters-burg has been taking a serious approach towards water conservation as the 21st century progresses. The city has wanted to meet HELCOM’s water conservati-on requirements – and largely, they have been able to.

One step forward was the completi-on of the Neva Northern Tunnel Collec-tor built in 2005– 06, and connecting sewage discharge pipes to it. With this tunnel and the corresponding pumping station, it became possible to direct the wastewater of approximately half a mil-lion residents to the Northern treatment plant. Econet was involved in this project as well, by delivering one of the largest screens in the world. Its lifting height is nearly 50 metres.

Although Iikkanen retired recently, he is not giving up water conservation work completely.

– I still have unfinished projects at Pöyry. I’m also involved with Belarusi-an water conservation projects, so I guess there are trips to Minsk in store...

Esa tuominen Photo matti iikkanen, istockphoto

Matti iikkanen has been to Russia hundreds of times.

consultant matti iiKKanEn:St. Petersburg is serious about wastewater treatment.

Colourful Russiamatti iikkanen has made hundreds of business trips to russia. of course, a lot has happened during his travels.

Even in the 1990s, the hosts were keen on observing soviet-style drinking customs. if you wanted to be friendly, you had to raise your glass as often as your hosts did. and it wasn’t just a few sips.

– things have improved by now. russian businessmen are considerably more sober, and they have started to look after their health.

at one time, iikkanen was inter-rogated by the police when he was on his way back from sosnovy bor, which is a restricted town for foreigners.

– our access permits had expired. We got in without any problems, but as we left, the police started asking questions about our trip. We had to explain for ages before we were able to go on our way. in the end, we had to pay a fine.

there was an unfortunate event in st. petersburg when iikkanen’s passport and home keys were stolen. a new passport was organised the fol-lowing day, and he was able to get back home. a few days later, some mobsters tried to use the keys to open iikkanen’s home door in Finland. Fortunately, he had already changed the lock, but his wife got the fright of her life as strang-ers were rustling at the door.

the most dramatic situation in iikkanen’s work history was in the early 1990s, when he was working for Ebrd. his English colleague had been sitting at a café of an elegant st. petersburg hotel, waiting for a meeting, when a gunfight between mobsters erupted in the café.

– on top of everything, that particu-lar hotel had been booked as we were advised it was “as safe as possible”...

- Et

Murmansk, Petroskoi, Ufa, Kazan, Lipetsk... and of course, St. Petersburg.

14

14 15

W ater – especially in the form of water supply and sanitation for use by communities – is an in-

dispensable infrastructure service. It is a key part of human well-being, daily security and security of supplies in com-munities. Water is connected to all the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations while Water Supply and Sanitation is one of them.

Especially in developing economies, operative water services can promote equality and living conditions for women and children, and prevent diseases. The history of developed economies, such as Finland, shows this.

According to UNICEF & WHO sta-tistics, some 0.7 billion people lack safe water and some 2.5 billion basic sanita-tion. In reality the figures are higher since often the systems do not operate properly. Besides, 80 per cent of wastewater is still completely untreated.

If the current trend continues, up to two thirds of mankind will suffer from chronic water scarcity and/or polluted water by 2050. There is scarcity especially of proper governance and management of the systems. This requires more experts with sufficient education and experience, proper rules of the game, and good governance.

According to UNESCO, some 25,000 people get killed in floods annual-ly, while millions of people die every year from water-related diseases. In all coun-tries community water supply is indeed the most important water use purpose.

Aging networks a Major ThreatWater services face huge challenges

worldwide. Due to retirement many experts will leave the sector. At the same time the networks are aging. A major part (80–90 per cent) of the assets are in the networks. Climate change brings addi-tional challenges.

In 2008 a questionnaire was conduct-ed about the challenges of Finnish water services (n=48). Ageing infrastructure was found to be the most urgent one. The state of the networks will become worse, unless the rate of rehabilitation is not doubled or tripled. Some utilities have managed to in-crease their rehabilitation rates.

In fact, ageing infrastructure is a glob-al problem. Using the Finnish school scale (4-10), the state of the water infra-structure in Finland is evaluated to be 7, and, in the United States (A-F), D, the lowest passing grade.

Vulnerability and management of risks is the second most severe challenge. Through resiliency issues of critical infra-structure and its vulnerability, external and internal security and safety are also connected with ageing infrastructure. The third cluster of challenges is connected with the know-how of water services professionals.

A fundamental issue of sustainability is the question of water pricing. In Fin-land a major breakthrough was the spe-cial Wastewater Fee Act enacted in 1974. The water bill of an ordinary water user was more than doubled. It was under-stood that the pollution of water bodies had to be ceased.

Nowadays raising tariffs seems diffi-cult: it is argued that it cannot be higher than in neighboring municipalities. In international comparisons, water prices

in North America are clearly lower than in Europe while the rates of water use are more than double. If we want to avoid further deterioration, we need to raise tariffs. In Finland, bigger cities use hidden taxation against the principles of legislation. By lowering it we could have more resources for rehabilitation.

institutions Are the RulesDouglass C. North, the father of the school of New Institutional Economics, and a Nobel Laureate, used a soccer analogy for defining institutions: organi-zations are the “players“ whereas institu-tions are “the formal and informal rules of the game”.

Globally municipalities or public institutions own some 90 per cent of water utilities, 95 per cent of wastewa-ter utilities, and close to 100 per cent of storm water systems. The role of munici-palities in terms of water services, how-ever, varies a lot (Figure).

In Finland, municipalities are in charge of providing water services and municipal utilities or cooperatives pro-duce the actual services. Services and goods can be bought from the private sector. In cities, water and wastewater utilities are normally integrated as one body. In England water utilities are pri-vately owned. Through regulation citi-zens have their role but counties and local authorities are excluded. In Ger-many, water and gas utilities are often integrated, while wastewater belongs to public works department.

In France, municipalities own water utilities, while a few private companies produce a major part of services. In the

Finnish Water Services – Experiences in Global Perspective Written by Tapio S. Katko, Tampere University of Technology

in international comparisons of water services, Finland is among the top coun-tries. this is partly explained by the abun-dant water resources and especially by the high level of water governance and operative systems.

the book gathers extensive know- ledge on the development of water ser- vices in Finland, along with their social significance. it is well suited for decision-makers, professionals, students, and anyone interested in water services.

Even though water services always re-quire solutions that fit the local conditions, some of the more general practices and Finnish know-how are widely applicable in other parts of the world.

Further information at www.finnishwaterservices.fi. The book has been published by Finnish Water Utilities Association (Fi-WA). Orders at www.vvy.fi/shop.

and role of institutions in Water servicestapio s. Katko, unEsco chairholder, adjunct professor tampere university of technology

Global Challenges

institutional arrangements of water services in six European countries.

Counties

Local authorities

EnGLAnD

Citizen/customer Citizen/customer Citizen/customer

Citizen/customer Citizen/customer

FinLAnD & SWEDEn

Citizen/customer

Water and waste-water services

Water and waste-water services

Municipalities Private sector

Wastewater

Counties

Counties

LiTHUAniA

21% Water47% Wastewater

79% Water53% Wastewater

FRAnCE

Water Wastewater

Counties Private sector

GERMAnY

Water SewerageWastewatertreatment

Counties Provinces Water boards

THE nETHERLAnDS

Netherlands, water and wastewater are separated and water boards originated in land drainage operations take care of wastewater treatment. In Lithuania, the situation resembles that in Finland, although the private sector is still in its developing stage.

Worldwide, several municipalities have in the early 2000s dismantled their long-term contracts with the private sector. Yet, the private sector has been and still is very important through construction contracts, planning and material supplies.

Concluding RemarksThe major challenges of water services in-clude ageing infrastructure as well as man-agement and governance of the systems. Many countries need better rules of the game and regulation. In addition to tech-nological artefacts we need better know-how and understanding of institutions.

Private sector Private sector

Private sector

Wastewater

16

W astewater treatment methods based on biological processes are known to be temperature-

dependent and certainly prevailing weather conditions, especially during winter periods as regards snow, freezing, icing, cause additional constraints to the process, as well as to the choice of materials, structures and equipment.

Dissimilar to industrial processes managing water temperature of waste-water treatment plants (WWTP) is hardly ever feasible due to the big vol-ume of water and short retention time, therefore temperature remains as un-controlled process variable which has to be taken in consideration in the design of the process configuration, reactors as well as the physical appearance of the plant. The same conditions pertain to operating the process and it is vital to the operators to understand upon res-ponses of the biological system under prevailing temperature range of a par-ticular WWTP.

In past as well as today much of that knowledge seems to be acquired by trial and error, although there is a definite tendency to learn more exact knowledge

about relationships between temperature and process dynamics. Much of that knowledge originates from empirical observation, but during the past 20 years or so, development of models of the biological processes of the of waste-water treatment, notably those of many alternative activated sludge methods, have resulted in better insight into the processes in general and the role of temperature in particular.

Eero meskus Photo Econet oy

Operating WWTP and temperatureAmbient temperature with other weather characteristics determines the nature of the living

environment its biotope and landscape, seasons as well as global zones. in the most extreme zones seasonal variation in temperature may be ± 50°C, in temperate zones just a fraction of that.

T 5°C 10°C 15°C

Viscosity 1.52 m2/s 1.31 m2/s 1.15 m2/s

Stoke’s law

θ20 θ5 θ10 θ15

Heterotrophic bacteria 1.015 0.80 0.86 0.93

1.04 0.56 0.68 0.75

Nitrifying bacteria 1.08 0.32 0.46 0.68

1.138 0.81 0.87 0.93

Temperature effect to growth kinetics of heterotrophic and nitrifying bacteria

General form: θT= θ20(T-20)Heterotrophic bacteria: θ = 1.015 – 1.040Nitrifying bacteria: θ = 1.080 - 1.138

Acceleration of gravity (g)Particle diameter (d)Density of particle (ρp) Density of medium (ρm)Viscosity of medium (μ)

WWTP designAs regards the materialization of the wastewater of a given community or industrial activity, it consists of two distinct stages where the first stage sets boundary conditions for the second stage.

In the first stage the choice process mode and plant configuration determines to a large extent the framework for the operators to perform the required effluent quality, and in that respect, range of pre-vailing temperature of water is a decisive design factor in terms of the size of the plant as well as the scope of the operation.

The second stage, obviously the deci-sive stage as regards the purpose and aims of a particular WWTP, is running the plant under the actual conditions accor-ding to the requirements of effluent qual-ity. As the operator does not have much choice regarding the plant and equip-ment, he or she has to understand well the key variables of process and control means in order to maintain stable plant operation. It is common especially in temperate zones that the operators have to cope with seasonal changes of tempera-ture and much of the success depends on understanding how the biological process behaves in respect of temperature. It may happen that due to the choices made dur-ing the design phase, the actual plant lim-its the operator’s possibilities to cont-rol the process to the satisfaction of the re-quired effluent quality. However, the

activated sludge process can be operated in a wide range of loads and temperature, consequently understanding the limits of the biological process and its key charac-teristics is obviously in essential.

Biological growth kinetics and temperatureIt is a generally accepted phenomenon that the reaction rate of biochemicals as well as chemical reactions increase at least to a certain point as the ambient tempera-ture of the reactor increases. Without going into details, the performance of the activated sludge depends on the capacity of microbes to utilize organic waste mate-rials and nutrients in the processes, which can be expressed in terms of kinetic equa-tions which results in the quantitative expression of the gross production of new biomass (growth), decay of the biomass (death) and as their combined result, in net growth of biomass to be wasted cons-tantly from the system.

The closer studies of the biochemical reactions have revealed that, that tempera-ture variation has a more drastic effect on nitrifying microbes oxidizing ammonia than heterotrophic bacteria oxidizing organic matter, therefore if nitrification is required, is a decisive reaction, and depending on the minimum operating temperature, determines the actual size of the biological reactor of the WWTP. Therefore, a plant operating the nitrifying process at low temperatures has substan-tially larger reactors than a plant treating similar loads at higher temperatures.

Understanding that the composition of the active biomass, or activated sludge in the system, depends on the net growth of specific microbes, and that net growth is directly related to the ambient tempera-ture, one understands also the importance of the temperature both to the size of the reactors and to the operational settings of the process. As the growth rate of different microbes varies, composition of the biomass in the system depends on residence time of the microbes in the system; the longer on the residence time, the more slow-growing organisms appear into the biomass.

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16 17

thE dEsiGn office and the mechanical workshop at parainen enable the company to react quickly, and to have flexibility in changing conditions; and these have been one of the reasons for more than 300 Waterix project deliveries all over the world.

the first WatEriX® product was manufactu-red in 2003. today, equipment is designed and manufactured at parainen, at the premises of tunturitec oy. the move to parainen happened in early 2012, when tunturitec oy and Econet group purchased the Waterix business. in the autumn of 2016, tunturitec acquired Econet’s share in W-rix. W-rix and Econet still collaborate in several export projects.

W-rix’s key products in the Waterix product range are the airit® aerators, miXit® mixers, and coolit® spray coolers. as a result of cons-tant product development, W-rix has applied for Finnish and international patents for the coolit spray coolers, for example. coolit is quick and easy to install, and thanks to its unblockable structure and exceptional cooling capacity, it is the future solution for cooling hot water.

Waterix® products work in cold and hot climates alikeWaterix products are used in the tropical climate of south East asia, in the heat of the arabian peninsula, and in the intermittently freezing condi-tions of Finnish lapland and russia.

as a Finnish company, we are used to

considering extremely cold conditions when de-signing, manufacturing and installing equipment. particularly with regard to the preparation of winter installations at lakes, it is important to consider a wide range of conditions. on some days, the temperature could be a few degrees above zero °c, with rainfall, and the next day, it could be twenty degrees below zero. during the coldest times, there may well be more than 70 centimetres of ice in the lake. ice in many layers, with meltwater in between the layers, and a crisp cold are a refreshing combination.

coolit coolers have been used year-round for cooling industrial waters in a cold climate nearly for a decade. besides their superior efficiency, one of the competitive advantages of coolit coolers is that they do not require sepa-rate winter equipment, unlike many competing cooling methods.

airit aerators have been used in icy condi-tions for an even longer time, both for wastewater treatment and lake reconditioning. For the aera-tion of lakes, the water temperature is near zero, and the temperature may well be below -40°c. in these challenging conditions, airit aerators have proven to be highly efficient and functional, as long as there is enough power.

over the years, we have gained a lot of experience from delivering and installing Waterix equipment for various kinds of weather condi-tions, and we can continue using this experience also in the future.

tomi martikainen Photo W-rix oy

clEanEr WatEr With lEss EnErGyW-Rix Oy designs, manufactures and supplies equipment under the WATERix® brand, for the treatment of municipal and industrial wastewater, for cooling process water, and for the well-being of natural water. The supply solutions are mostly focused on the optimisation of energy consumption.

This observation has resulted in an operation strategy based on the sludge age (SRT) as the key opera-ting parameter which is actually determined by the required scope of treatment (nitrifying/ not nitrifying process) and kinetics in respect of ambient temperature.

The operator’s challenge is to maintain the desired balance of the biomass (SRT), or in other words that the wastage of sludge equals to the net growth. Indeed, one may argue that achieving desired sludge quality is the main product of the operation and that the effluent is a by-product of the successful opera-tion of the “biomass farm”.

Clarification and temperatureHowever, it appears that the failures of activated sludge processes origi-nate seldom from inadequate sub-strate utilization but from problems with the secondary clarifiers which have two distinct functions; firstly to separate solids in order to produce clear, solids free effluent and second-ly, to provide essential storage of the active biomass partly recirculated into the process, partly wasted as excess sludge.

The failure of the secondary clari-fier is manifested by the escape of solids in the effluent, decreasing eff-luent quality in terms of organic matter, and nitrogen and phospho-rus of solids. It is typical in such conditions that soluble constituents fulfil the requirements but due to escaping solids, limits are exceeded.

Solid separation by gravity is a physical process and can be ex-pressed by mathematical model (Stokes equation) as long as discrete particles are involved and in such case, the velocity of the particles is controlled by the viscosity of the water which is again dependent on temperature.

As the composition of the activa-ted sludge depends on the sludge age, it is also reasonable to expect that the physical characteristics of the sludge vary regarding SRT and that in this respect, the separation of solids also depends on SRT. By experience it is known that at a certain SRT-range, flocculent and dense flock is predo- minant and can be separated effec-tively by gravity meanwhile espe-cially advanced sludge age results in a sludge with a slow settling velo-city and poor thickening properties, causing a carry-over of solids into the effluent. Indeed, such events are common during periods of low wa-

ter temperature but not so much due due to increased viscosity, but to op-erating conditions. Due to effluent requirements, the operator has to in-crease SRT when the water tempera-ture decreases but often applied SRT is increased, for the sake of security, more than necessary, and that is re-sulting in sludge which contains of filamentous, slow-growing bacteria. In such event volume of sludge floc increases and no discrete settling zone exists in the top of the clarifier but immediate escape of solids occurs.

Indeed, the mathematic model-ling of the clarifier has appeared to be more difficult than the modelling of the biological stage of the treat-ment. Observations regarding the performance of clarifiers are con-tradicting, there are cases suggest-ing that as solid concentration in the aeration is increased, clarification efficiency improves but in other cases it decreases as sludge content of aeration is increased.

The conclusion is that the per-formance of the clarifier is system-specific and in that respect much re-lated to operation strategy and SRT applied by the operator. Therefore the design of clarifiers is even today, more a matter of preference of the designer regarding type and applied hydraulic load of the clarifier.

There is a common understan-ding, that sludge age, or SRT, pro-vides a valid process control param-eter and is related to the prevailing temperature but in such way that there are no additional advantages if unnecessary sludge age is main-tained as it increases risk of failure of the secondary clarification. Actually, there are observations suggesting that very short SRT causes growth of dispersed mic-robes which settle poorly and on the other end, long SRT results either in pin floc or fila-mentous growth, both decreasing effi-ciency in solid separation.

ConclusionUnderstanding the effect of tempe-rature on the biological water treat-ment process and interpreting it in respect of the actual plant design and, emphatically, of operation stra-tegy is essential. The failure of the WWTP due to excessive overload is quickly recognized by few well-established parameters but if the fai-lure is manifested by massive escape of solids in the effluent, the failure is probably related to process settings as regards optimum SRT under ambient temperature.

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POreiTA

“WhEn i was looking for an internship during my studies, i managed to get in touch with Juha Kontturi, Econet’s construction and layout designer, and our phone conversation led to a job interview. during my first summer in Econet, i was able to do simple drawings on the autocad software, as well as helping with russian translations. after i finished my studies, i first worked at oy slamex ab for a few years, doing a few different tasks, and then i moved to Econet.

i’ve been learning more about the water industry mainly on the job, and through my work. i’m a mechanical and production engineer by education, specialising in power plants. at one point, i was also able to become acquainted with heating plants, as i was involved in Fortum’s Kivenlahti project.

i am currently working as a project manager, mainly dealing with projects in russia and Kazakhstan. sometimes i also do other work at sites located in Europe, but i spend the most time in russia and Kazakhstan.

the best thing about my job is the opportunity to work independently. i can schedule my own work day to a rather great extent. i can also work on development ideas. Generally speaking, the greatest challenge is time. if there are a lot of tasks, and if all of them have to be completed as soon as possible, i have to consider their order

of importance. i’d like to bring more modern

opportunities and tools to Econet, so that the company’s operations would be even more efficient. currently, depending on the job specifics, i work together with many people. in russian projects, my usual colleague is Anja Berdov.

on the industrial side, where quality and functionality are key issues, i see Finnish water know-how and

responsibility as very significant factors. in many countries, Finnish products are considered to be of high quality, and Finnish know-how is valued. For example, the fact that in Finland, it’s possible to drink tap water without filtering it first, is a great advertisement. these kinds of things help even ordinary people understand the high level of water know-how in Finland.

i see the future of the water industry as something fascinating. more and more people are taking a stand in environmental issues, and regulations are becoming stricter. there is potential in the water industry; there is plenty of work for the people here. indeed, i predict that Econet will be drowning in successful projects in 2020.”

Vadim Fedorov Project ManagerECOnET LTDMalminkaari 5, Fi-00700 Helsinki, Finland+358 40 5564522vadim.fedorov@econetgroup.fi 

Anja Berdov Export Assistant (Russia) ECOnET LTDMalminkaari 5, 00700 HelsinkiFinland+358 40 8403178anja.berdov@econetgroup.fi  

Vadim Fedorov, Eija Öhrnberg Photo Econet oy

Vadim Fedorov started working for Econet about a year ago, as the project manager in Russia and Kazakhstan. The following is his overview of his work, and his visions for the future.

Potential in the water industryhEld on 22 march, the purpose of the annual World Water day is to increase awareness about the impact of the world’s water supply on economic profitability and social well-being. this year’s theme was wastewater. World Water day wants to remind people that clean drinking water is a basic human right. in this context, we must also remember the importance of sanitation, sewerage and general cleanliness as a part of development and well-being. sanitation development can help to reduce poverty, illnesses and child mortality.

situated in an old waterworks facility in helsinki, the museum of technology had a traditional water-themed programme on Water day. For example, in the protected quick filtering hall, it was possible to have a closer look at how drinking water was treated in the olden days.

Water Day focus on wastewater

thE international exhibition EXpo-2017 in astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, will be held from 10 June 2017 until 10 september 2017. Finland is among those 115 countries who have confirmed their participation in this large-scale exhibition, with over five million expected visitors. Finpro will be responsible for the arrangements of the Finnish pa-vilion. Finnish Water Forum (FWF) will be participating in the exhi-bition with the Exhibition partner status, together with several bu-sinesses from the water industry, including Econet. during the international exhibition, two Water days will be held at the Fin-nish pavilion, one in June and the other in august. these events will include topical seminars, b2b meetings, and

presentations of Finnish water industry know-how. FWF will also be hiring a local water industry expert for the exhibition, who has become acquainted with the technology of the participating companies in advance, and is able to tell visitors more about the products of the companies specialised in water. Econet’s offi-cial representative in Kazakhstan, too Wl-astana, will also be acti-vely introducing Econet’s know-how at the Expo.

Econet participating in the exhibition Astana ExPO-2017

new York adapting to climate changehoW can a city manage rainwater and be prepared for floods caused by torrential rain? in cooperation with the ramboll water industry team, the city of new york Environmental protection department is investigating how stormwater should be taken into consideration in the us, regarding investments and

plans related to adapting to climate change. ramboll’s task is to give

recommendations on cloudburst resiliency, and estimate costs and benefits.

according to ramboll, cities should include new stakeholders in the planning work, and highlight the profit available from investments. seeing such projects as an overall theme adds commitment, while also opening up new possibilities and bringing finan-cial benefit, for example regarding property prices.

BUBBLeS

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Crafting with Econet

A mini greenhouse built in a bottle or a jar can fit even in a small space. We planted daffodils and grape hyacinths in a demijohn.

Mini greenhouse

The next issue will be published in September 2017

dEWaco oy set a new deal record in the company history, as it will be supplying a total of 120 chain scraper systems and 120 sludge collection systems to one of the largest wastewater treatment plants in south-East asia, in ho chi minh, Vietnam.

according to Siri Dahanayake, the asia pacific sales manager, the first quote was submitted already in 2005. the competition for this project was tough, but thanks to good references, successful co-operation and the undeniable advantages of the equipment, the deal was confirmed. the parties have not disclosed the transaction price, but with this trade, dewaco’s business turnover will be app- roaching 10 million Eur.

Giant deal in Ho Chi Minh

the water treatment plant of the city of Kaliningrad processes the wastewater

of 400 000 residents?

Did you know that…

EconEt oy will be introducing the products and services from their smart Water product range at the water management trade fair Vesihuoltopäivät and at the intratech exhibition, held in Jyväskylä on 10–11 may. oy slamex ab and dewaco will be participating at the stand as product suppliers and manufacturers.

Welcome to our stand, C160!

Smart Water on display at water events this spring

• Find a suitable bottle or jar for your plants. depending on the size of the plants, you can use containers of any size.

• Sprinkle a thin layer of soil on the bottom of the container.

• Drop the bulbs into the container. you can use a matchstick to adjust the position of the bulbs, but the plants will turn themselves anyway towards the sky as they grow.

• if the bottle has a small neck, you can drop seeds in it, if the bulbs won't fit through.

• You can landscape the soil with decorative pebbles and mulch.

• Remember to water the plants regularly!

Endurance test for a wading wheel...Why did you empty the freezer? Everything’s been defrosted!

Being defrosted is what this experiment is all about.

The solution is this sort of wading wheel.

When the wheel keeps moving in water, it won’t

freeze.This is a revolutionary

discovery… Honey? I said it’s a…

ECONET

WATERHOW in AnY CLiMATEwww.econetgroup.fi