Cornerstone to Narva water treatment plant to be constructed by Merko laid today
Narva water treatment plant, the cornerstone to which was laid today, on 4 September, will ensure high quality drinking water to about 63,000 residents of Narva from the spring of 2015. In addition to the construction of the new water treatment plant, Mustajõe water intake will be reconstructed so as to meet modern standards. Construction work commissioned by AS Narva Vesi will be carried out by Merko Ehitus Eesti in cooperation with Danish company Krüger A/S.
“AS Narva Vesi and the town of Narva have long awaited the water treatment plant to be erected. The existing water treatment plant is outdated and for many years it has failed to supply local residents with drinking water which would meet European standards and, thus, the need for a new water treatment plant is critical. Since 2007, we have worked intensely in order to source co-funding for the design and construction work of the new water treatment plant from the European Union Cohesion Fund and the municipal budget of Narva. We are delighted that to date the design stage has been completed and construction has started. AS Narva Vesi is also satisfied with the design solution of the new water treatment plant and we hope that the new plant will successfully pass the tests to be performed in two years time,” said Aleksei Voronov, member of the management board of AS Narva Vesi.
“For Merko, Narva water treatment plant has an iconic significance in several ways. Firstly, it is the most powerful plant that we have constructed and secondly, this is one of Merko’s largest contracts in the Narva region. We have completed a very thorough design process and have begun the construction of the plant,” said Tiit Roben, chairman of the management board of Merko Ehitus Eesti.
“From the perspective of construction technology, this project is extremely complicated. Raw water will be pumped to the water treatment plant from Mustajõe, which is about 26 kilometres away, and the water will flow downstream through the entire treatment process until it reaches clean water reservoirs. Due to this downstream flow, it is necessary to set up many systems of filters and channels at different levels in the building, and on the other hand, having the water running downstream will set up additional requirements with regard to the precision of work,” said Roland Vaikmäe, project manager at Merko Ehitus Eesti.
The new water treatment plant is situated at 1 Kulgu Street in Narva. The maximum capacity of the plant will be 20,500 m3/d and it will implement a technology that enables local residents to be supplied with potable water which meets Estonian and European standards. The technology was selected based on pre-conducted pilot tests so to find a technology that would be most suitable for treating the raw water taken from the Narva River.
In order to improve the quality of water, the Mustajõe pumping station located 26 kilometres south of Narva will also be reconstructed. The deadline for completing the construction of the water treatment plant was set to 1 March 2015, which will also allow for a two-month testing and trial commissioning period.
Under the contract entered into between AS Merko Ehitus and AS Narva Vesi in April 2012, AS Merko Ehitus Eesti and Danish company Krüger A/S will perform the design and construction work of the water treatment plant of the town of Narva, and they will also renovate the pipelines in the target area of the water treatment plant and the Mustajõe pumping station. The value of the contract is EUR 21.1 million exclusive of VAT.
The construction of the water treatment plant will be funded to the extent of 64.44% by the state-owned Environmental Investment Centre from the European Union Cohesion Fund, to the extent of 25% from the municipal budget of Narva and to the extent of 10.56% from the funds of AS Narva Vesi.