Kemwater Services Oy, jointly owned by Kemira and Helsinki Water, and YIT Environment Oy have signed a preliminary agreement with the City of Haapavesi and Valio on outsourcing the operations of the Haapavesi waste water treatment plant. This is the first undertaking in Finland where a municipality outsources its waste water treatment, with investments financed privately.
The aim is that the Haapavesi waste water treatment plant will be transferred to a company that will be established for this purpose. This company will invest just under 2 million euros in expanding and reorganising the plant, and will be responsible for the operations of the plant for the next twelve years. The City of Haapavesi will be a minority shareholder in the new company.
Kemwater Services will be responsible for the operations of the plant, and YIT Environment for the investments.
The Haapavesi waste water treatment plant is the second largest in Northern Finland. Its capacity would suffice for the treatment of waste water from 60,000 inhabitants. In addition to municipal waste water, the plant also treats the waste water from the Valio dairy.
The City of Haapavesi and Valio feel that outsourcing the waste water treatment plant is a significant decision. The technical quality of the plant will be improved, and it will be operated by a company that is nationally recognized. The final agreements on the outsourcing of the Haapavesi plant will be up for approval by the Haapavesi City Council and Valio during spring 2002.
Water chemistry is one of Kemira's core businesses. In addition to water research, the company focuses its resources on the treatment of drinking and waste water, recycling, and developing products and solutions for the industrial water cycle.
Kemira owns a share of 51 % in Kemwater Services Oy, and the City of Helsinki 49 %. The company provides water supply and related solutions, builds plants, participates in the maintenance of their operations, as well as trains the staff of the plants for demanding tasks in the water industry.
The strong water knowhow of Kemira and Helsinki Water makes Kemwater Services Oy extremely competitive also in operating water treatment plants in Nordic countries and Finland's neighbouring regions. There are some 600 treatment plants in Finland for municipal waste water, and some 150 for industrial waste water. Their annual operating costs total about 200 million euros.
Kemira's Kemwater Services participating: CITY OF HAAPAVESI TO OUTSOURCE WASTE WATER TREATMENT PLANT
| Source: Kemira Oyj