PURE - Project on Urban Reduction of Eutrophication

Eutrophication is the major environmental problem of the Baltic Sea. PURE (Project on Urban Reduction of Eutrophication) aimed at an annual reduction of at least 500 tons of phosphorous load to the Baltic Sea. This was achieved by direct investments by selected wastewater treatment plants in Latvia and in Belarus. The objective was that WWTPs reach HELCOM’s recommendation regarding phosphorous content in the out flow. Reaching this target in municipal wastewater treatment plants in the Baltic Sea catchment area is crucial because of the current alarming state of the sea. Moreover the project has identified solutions for improving the sludge management within wastewater treatment plants and a book on Good Practices in Sludge Management, first of its kind in the Baltic Sea Region, has been published. Further, a new online tool “PURE BenchMark” has been developed, to improve sharing and visualizing information on municipal wastewater treatment and loads to the Baltic Sea.