Published on: 2026-04-29
Source: Saint Petersburg Polytechnic University of Peter the Great –
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The fifteenth guest of the discussion club “Your Word!” of the “Lepota” project was Sergey Volkov, the General Director of the State Unitary Enterprise “Vodokanal of Saint Petersburg.”
Sergey Nikolaevich talked about the directions of Vodokanal’s activities, which include not only water supply and wastewater disposal in the Northern capital, but also ensuring the operation of fountains, saving the Caspian seal, snow melting, and caring for the cleanliness of the Gulf of Finland. From Sergey Volkov’s speech, students also learned about the working conditions at the enterprise and the prospects that open up for young specialists.
“Vodokanal of Saint Petersburg” produces one and a half million cubic meters of clean drinking water per day for the needs of the city’s residents and industrial enterprises. The company’s engineering complex includes 10 water supply stations, with a pipeline length of more than 8000 km.
Saint Petersburg is the only metropolis in the Russian Federation and among its nearest European neighbors that completely refused to use chlorine for disinfecting drinking water. At the enterprise for this purpose, sodium hypochlorite is used, which is produced at two plants.
Also, Petersburg is the only metropolis in the country where a combined sewerage system is used: domestic, industrial, and stormwater discharges are collected and transported through collectors to three treatment facilities: the Northern and Central aeration stations and the South-Western treatment facilities.
It is hard to believe now, but until 1995, sewage waters in Saint Petersburg were discharged into the Neva without any treatment. Now Vodokanal treats 99.8% of the waste, and by 2030 they promise to solve the issue with the remaining 0.2% of surface waters (rain and melt water).
The task of the enterprise is to build systems for cleaning and ultraviolet disinfection at all treatment facilities. Today they exist only at the more modern ones in the South-West. Everything else is prospective work for employees, perhaps also for you, Sergey Volkov noted.
Sergey Nikolaevich added that the enterprise has a huge number of design tasks, for the solution of which qualified personnel are needed, whom he sees in today’s student of the Politechnic.
After the story about the working conditions at Vodokanal, the social package, and other attractive prospects, they moved on to questions from the audience.
— It is known that Vodokana, besides treating wastewater, also disposes of sludge. You currently have three plants for sludge incineration. Why did you choose this technology? Is the implementation of others planned, for example, sludge fermentation, use as secondary raw material?
— In the Leningrad region, there are two sites where the sludge from sewage treatment facilities was dumped. It has a hazard class close to the maximum. None of the reclamation technologies allow achieving a state of the soil that binds heavy metals in it. Therefore, fermentation technologies or the use of secondary products are also not suitable. In the 2000s, having studied global practices, we came to the conclusion that only a thermal method of working with sludge is promising for St. Petersburg. Two sites were chosen for technology testing by German colleagues, one of which is French.At the peak of this activity, 99% of the sludge was burned. Incineration solves the city’s problem of wastewater sludge disposal.
— You said that the appearance of blue-green algae in the Gulf of Finland is promoted by organic matter from untreated sewage. But now treated water is being discharged, so why does the bay’s blooming continue?
— In Petersburg, we have achieved the purification of wastewater, but this is not enough. The Neva is a small part of the overall system, which also includes other water bodies: Onega, Ladoga, the Gulf of Finland. Other pollutants accumulate on their shores. We strive to identify and address problems precisely and locally.
— I read that mussels are used in Warsaw to monitor water quality. Is there a similar practice in our city?
— For ten years, our enterprise used large Australian crayfish and snails to control water quality. At that time, it was believed that the most operational reaction one could get — was a change in the heart rate of the river crayfish — it reacts instantly to changes in water composition. Snails were used at the last stage of gas cleaning at the sludge incineration plant. Today, neither of these methods is applied, and they were left only for excursions.
— Is it possible to reduce the concentration of iron in tap water?
— I clarify that Vodokanal is only responsible for the quality of the cold water. The natural iron content in the Neva water is high, but it meets the standards. Further quality depends on the internal condition of the distribution network and pipe corrosion. Recently, plastic pipes have been used everywhere in apartment buildings, whereas previously there were steel pipes, and secondary contamination there leads to water cloudiness.
— What competencies are needed for Vodokanal, what specialists are you expecting? What skills do you value most?
— It is important, having basic knowledge, to try to apply them from such an angle that will allow you to achieve something new. What can be changed in water or wastewater management? You can work with chemistry, with precipitation technology. A young inquisitive mind is needed that will be able to look at all known and understood tasks differently.
— Describe the Vodokanal of the future, how technologies might affect it?
— Any engineering enterprise must have scheduled maintenance work for each element, node, and mechanism. Nowadays, enterprises often perform the function of a fire brigade. This is not the kind of job for which sufficiently complex water treatment and wastewater purification systems are required. The water supply and sewerage of the future is a clear, interesting, and scheduled work.
At the end of the meeting, the guest traditionally gifted a branded t-shirt of the “Lepota” project, and on another identical t-shirt he left an autograph for the politicians. And, of course, a group photo will remain as a memory.
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