StoPWa - INTERREG Central Baltic project

The quality of the Baltic Sea has fundamental economic, environmental and recreational importance for each country in the Baltic Sea Region. Anyhow, contaminated stormwater, generated both in coastal areas of the Baltic Sea and the leaching from inland waters, poses a risk to the condition of the Baltic Sea. At the same time, old buildings are demolished in the cities of the region, creating huge amounts of construction and demolition waste (CDW), which is difficult to recycle and often ends up in landfills. However, CDW may be used as stormwater filtering material. The StoPWa project develops and tests multilayer stormwater filtration systems using CDW, in cross-border cooperation. The filters will be tested both in laboratory environments and in field tests where full-scale stormwater filters will be constructed in Lahti (Finland), in Harju County (Estonia) and in Smiltene (Latvia).