Helylä - public hearings on February 25th 2021

Submitted by KA10010 on

On February 25, 2021, public hearings were held in the Administration of the Sortavala urban settlement to discuss the project of zoning of the territory intended for the placement of a pressure sewer collector from the village of Helyla to WWTP in Sortavala.

This event was one of the mandatory steps for Karelvodokanal LLC to implement the Karelia CBC Programme Project No. KA 10010 "Improving the water quality for local use of water resources and ecological state in the cross-border rivers Koitajoki and Tohmajoki".
The village of Helula is located on the bank of the Tohmajoki River, which flows from Lake Tohmajarvi in Finland and flows into Lake Ladoga through the territory of Sortavala district.

In the framework of the project, the laboratories of Karelvodokanal LLC and SYKE conduct quarterly samples and analysis of river water to determine the anthropogenic load and assess the self-purification of the reservoir.

According to the results of the already conducted analyses of water samples, the following conclusions were made: the treatment facilities of the village of Helula (built in 1976) are ineffective, the technology used is structurally and morally outdated, anthropogenic pollution in the reservoir accumulates and the river does not self-clean.

The problem has two solutions:
1. Construction of modern high-performance WWTP in the new territory
2. Elimination of waste water discharge and redirection of waste water p.Helyla and the village of Helyla at the Sortavala WWTP.

Based on the results of the study of the Finnish experience, with the support of the partner SYKE, it was decided to choose the second solution.

The construction of a section of pressure sewerage between the village of Helyla, the village of Helyla and the WWTP of Sortavala will allow to:

  • Reduce the anthropogenic load on the Tohmajoki River and start the self-cleaning process.
  • Stop the discharge of waste water into the sanitary zone of the drinking water intake.
  • Ensure efficient wastewater treatment.
  • Create opportunities for centralized water disposal in the territory of the residential housing complex in the village of Helyla.


The purpose of the public hearings was to draw the attention of the local administration and the population to the existing problem, to share the information collected in the framework of the KA10010 project, as well as to present plans for the planning of the territory and land zoning for the construction of new facilities.



Karelvodokanal LLC, represented by project coordinator Valentina Gorbunova, managed to gather a large enough audience for such events at the site of the Administration of Sortavala urban settlement and successfully present the plans of Karelvodokanal LLC and the joint developments of the KA10010 project partners.

At the end of the hearing, it was unanimously decided to support the construction of a pressure sewer section with the closure of the wastewater discharge after the existing dilapidated village WWTP. The administration of Sortavala approved the submitted project of planning and zoning the territory for the design and construction of the pressure collector.Within the framework of the international project KA 10010, Karelvodokanal LLC will prepare a design specification and tender documentation to determine a contractor for the development of design and estimate documentation for the construction of a sewer section.