Merko finishes construction in Vääna-Jõesuu of Estonia’s second vacuum sewerage system
Merko has completed the fourth and final phase of construction of Vääna-Jõesuu’s public water supply and sewerage piping as well as waste water pumping stations. The vacuum station and waste water pumping system were built near Puraviku tee and Nõmmerohu tee, encompassing 3.8 km of drinking water pipes and 4.1 km of sewerage pipes. The Vääna-Jõesuu project is the second vacuum sewerage system in Estonia.
According to Valdo Liiv of OÜ Strantum, the company that commissioned the work, the use of vacuum sewerage systems in outdoor piping solutions is unjustifiably uncommon in Estonia. “When the work was ordered, the main reason for utilizing a vacuum-based system was the low costs of construction and maintenance, but now that the first customers are hooked up to the system, we also see the system is very convenient to use, particularly with respect to monitoring customers.”
“The work in Vääna-Jõesuu progressed very smoothly and quickly. All four phases of the project were completed before the contractual deadline. We have therefore been able to minimize inconveniences associated with construction work for both residents and holidaymakers in the area,” said Merko Ehitus Eesti AS project manager Peeter Laidma.
“A vacuum station and waste water pumping station were built in the Puraviku tee and Nõmmerohu tee area, as well as 3.8 km of drinking water piping and 4.1 km of sewerage piping, including nearly 3.6 km of vacuum sewerage piping. The benefit of vacuum sewerage is efficiency – the sewerage pumping station does not have to pump excess water, since the watertight vacuum sewerage system takes in significantly less water from rainfall, snowmelt, leaking pipes and wells than ordinary sewerage systems. The vacuum sewerage tanks are waterproof and the tanks’ lids are 10-20 cm above the ground to prevent rainwater from leaking in from the lid,” Laidma explained.
“Additionally, each tank is equipped with sensors to monitor the flow of each client’s waste water. Any increase in flow is automatically picked up by the sensor and notifies a maintenance technician. Ordinary sewerage systems do not have this monitoring capability and major leaks are usually only discovered by chance or when some other problem is being addressed,” added Laidma.
The construction work was carried out by AS Merko Ehitus Eesti and AS Merko Infra, which also built Estonia’s thus far only vacuum sewerage piping system, in the village of Leppneeme in Viimsi municipality.
AS Merko Ehitus Eesti (www.merko.ee) is Estonia’s leading construction company, performing general construction, engineering, electrical and residential construction work. The company is owned by the Merko Ehitus group, which is listed on the Tallinn Stock Exchange. Merko Infra is a subsidiary of AS Merko Ehitus Eesti and focuses on infrastructure construction as well as construction of outdoor water, sewerage and gas pipeline networks, installation of sewerage pumping stations and construction and renovation of storm drain systems. From 2011, the company has an electrical work department, which deals with design, configuration and construction of medium and high voltage substations and lines.