A wastewater tunnel beneath Malmö
A wastewater tunnel beneath the center of Malmö enables protection of the local water environment, addresses the challenges of population growth and an obsolete wastewater system – allowing more people to live and work here.
The planned wastewater tunnel from Turbinen in central Malmö to Sjölunda wastewater treatment plant is a 5.5 kilometres long main tunnel with two connecting micro-tunnels totalling 2.4 kilometres. The main tunnel will be drilled at a depth of 20–35 metres, and the wastewater will be transported by gravity to the wastewater treatment plant. There, a large new pumping station will pump the wastewater from a depth of 35 metres up to the treatment plant.
Main tunnel
Location: from Turbinen in Malmö to Sjölunda wastewater treatment plant
Length: 5.5 kilometres
Placing: 20–35 metres below ground
Internal diameter: 5 metres
Storage capacity: 100 000 cubic metres
Technical lifespan: 100 years
Microtunnels
Length: a total of 2.4 kilometres
Placing: 15–25 metres below ground
Internal diameter: 2 metres
Sjölunda pumping station
Capacity: 10 cubic metres per second
Location: next to Sjölunda wastewater treatment plant, and will pump the wastewater from a depth of 35 metres up to the treatment plant
Shafts
Number: a total of 11 shafts along the tunnel route
Size: usually 4–15 metres in diameter but the shaft closest to Sjölunda is 45 metres in diameter for building the new pumping station
Depth: 18–37 metres down into the ground
Application: tunnelling, evacuation during the construction phase, connection of the existing pipe network, construction of a new pumping station and access for operation and maintenance