Keep the Archipelago Tidy Association is passionate about building a sustainable Baltic Sea region. We concentrate on tackling several environmental issues concerning the Baltic Sea both locally and through our input in different projects. Our operative tasks include managing 200 waste and recycling stations and 30 floating sewage pump-out stations in the maritime and lakeside Finland. We are also responsible for the maintenance and service of appr. 170 excursion harbours.

One of our constant efforts is to reduce the inflow of nutrients in waterways through sewage disposal. The dumping of sewage water in the sea and lakes was banned in 2005 in Finland, yet it is estimated that almost 50 per cent of boaters still do their sewage dumping into the waterways on a casual basis.  This particular fact became evident in a survey conducted by the University of Turku in 2016. The reason for this casual dumping was also made clear. The shortage of pump-up stations or the poor condition of the existing ones are more than often the primary reasons for the disposal of sewages in our waters. This issue could easily be dealt with through new stations and better management.

Keep the Archipelago Tidy Association is always looking to improve our pump-up station network. Since we’ve gotten a lot of feedback concerning the poor possibilities of sewage disposal in the Ekenäs Archipelago, we’ve decided to locate our efforts there. As the area has a national park with a fragile ecosystem and at the same time it is the most trafficked waterway in Finland, it is evident that all efforts to reduce eutrophication in these areas are essential.

Floating stations are effective in these regions, since a stationary unit would require further adjustments in terms of finding a suitable location on shore. This particular unit would have a capacity of appr. 10 m³ with two suction units, which effectively eliminates pressure from constant maintenance (emptying) and allows bigger boats an easier use of the service. Two pumps would also make the stations more reliable, because even if one pump would be broken, the other one would still be working.

For a floating pump-up station, we’ll be needing a sum of 43 000 euros. If the sum cannot be reached, we would still be able to afford a stationary unit (approximately 10 000 euros), even though this would require more adjustments, as mentioned previously. The costs for a floating unit is 40 000 euros, with transportation, installation, and coordination requiring an additional 3 000 euros. We have this price estimation from a professional consultant, who has been negotiating the possibilities to build this kind of pump-out station with several manufacturers. The consultant company is Aikari Oy and contact information can be found from www.aikari.fi.

The quantified nutrient reduction/removal is 7.0 kg for 20 year(s).

According to a study conducted by the University of Turku and Keep the Archipelago Tidy Association, our standard pump-out station model with a sewage storing capacity of 6 m³, equals to an amount of 3 kg phosphorus and 5 kg nitrogen. A model of 10 m³ would therefore hold an amount equalling to 5 kg phosphorus and 15 kg nitrogen (nutrient input equals to about 2 kg phosphorus ), respectively. Depending on location popularity, a 6 m³ station has to be emptied 1-3 times during one boating season, with the most popular stations requiring emptying up to five times per season. As Ekenäs has no floating station from before, it is hard to give exact numbers on the emptying frequency (and therefore the total amount of nutrients), but numbers are likely to be high, regarding the areas general popularity and the number of visitors in the national park. Finlands most trafficked boating waterway goes through this are and all existing pump-out stations are quite a long detour from the route. Also, the first station will give a good idea about future demand and further actions regarding this particular area, as well as clues about the potential amounts of sewages that might without further actions end up directly in the sea. 

As we have quite the solid experience in this area, the risks will be negligible, with the biggest concern being location, if a stationary unit has to be preferred due to insufficient funding. Long term risks include maintenance during its lifespan and the eventual replacement of the unit after 15-20 years.

The pump-out station would be placed by the end of the year 2018. Pump-out stations should work reliably approximately 15-20 years.

About KAT
Established in 1969, the Keep the Archipelago Tidy Association (Pidä Saaristo Siistinä ry) is a Finnish environmental organisation for boaters and all those travelling in and around Finnish waterways. The Association serves the archipelago and coastal regions, as well as the network of lakes in the Finnish Lakeland region.

The task and aim of the Association is to keep Finland’s coastlines and archipelago clean, and to support opportunities for recreational boating and the enjoyment of all the waterways in and around Finland. The activities of the Association are diverse and concrete, from environmental maintenance tasks and educational work to national and international project work. 

The operations of the Association are divided into three distinct areas of activity:

• Environmental management
• Environmental communication
• Project work

The Project team
Keep the Archipelago Tidy Association has its own project team, consisting of a project leader and project coordinator, that manage all ongoing projects in cooperation with the rest of the staff. We also have a field crew, who attend to tasks in maintenance in our several service stations.