Introduction

Finland is a land rich in water. When the United Nations World Water Assessment Programme examined water quality indicator values in 122 countries, Finland was the highest ranked country in the assessment (published in the World Water Development Report in 2003). Furthermore, according to the water poverty index devised by the World Water Council and the British Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Finland is the richest of the 147 countries assessed, in terms of capacity, water resources, access, use and ecological sustainability.  Finland’s renewable fresh water reserves are estimated at 21268 m3 per inhabitant, whereas the threshold for water poverty has been set at 1700 m3 per person.  The total water use for various purpose is only 2.2 per cent of total renewable resources. Ten percent of Finland’s total area is water, which includes 187888 lakes.  The average discharge of all Finnish rivers is 3300 m3 per second. Almost 75 per cent of this flows into the Baltic Sea, 15 per cent in to Lake Ladoga, and over 10 per cent into the Baltic Sea.

Objectives and target audience

Efficient water consumption: Finland’s renewable resources have been estimated to amount to 17 billion m3 a year.  Only 2.4 billion m3 of water are currently used each year – around 2 per cent of the total resources – but these valuable resources must still be managed and used with care.
New approaches for water protection: treatment of wastewater from industrial and urban municipal sources has improved considerably during recent decades. Diffuse pollution caused by wastewater from sparsely populated rural areas has become a more significant factor in the deterioration of water quality in rivers, lakes and groundwater.  It is therefore increasingly important to develop innovative technologies to deal with these problems, including small-scale solutions.

Financial Resources and Partners involved

The costs of improving wastewater treatment systems vary greatly according to local conditions, but the necessary investments have been estimated to amount to an average of around 3000 euros per property.  Government subsidies may be granted in certain cases.
Partners involved:-

• Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs
• Finnish Ministry of the Environment
• Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
• Finnish Environment Institute
• Finnish Non-Governmental Organizations

Process

The main goal of the programme is to prevent and reduce eutrophication. The Water Protection Programme specifies quantitative water protection targets for priority sectors including agriculture, industry and municipalities.  Progress towards reaching these targets is closely  monitored.  Measures to reduce eutrophication are particularly needed in agriculture and in small rural settlements. The programme also attempts to reduce the risks associated with hazardous substances.

Results

Water quality mostly good in lakes and open sea. During the period 2000 – 2003 the quality of water was excellent or good in 80 per cent of the classified lake area and 73 per cent of the sea area.  In general, the water quality in rivers was worse than in the lakes, because human activities, such as agriculture and development, are concentrated along rivers.  Moreover, many rivers are sensitive to the effects of nutrient loading because of their low flow rates.  Rivers classified as excellent or good (43% of total) are mostly located in the northern Finland.  Unexpectedly, in the vicinity of towns and industrial plants, water quality had improved considerably, because of long-term measures for water protection.

Critical Success Factors / Challenges

Strict wastewater laws encourage community sewerage schemes. Strict legislation wastewater discharges in rural areas set high requirements for all wastewater discharges.  It is likely that households will be increasingly interested in developing community-based wastewater collection and treatment systems, in order to avoid the investments and maintenance costs related to individual on-site installations. Community-based water system can provide high quality water services at reasonable cost.  Successful water cooperatives have often been led by one key person, who have initiated the idea, organised the establishment of a cooperative, managed the implementation stage.