Light art installation ‘A story of clean water’ to be on view at Turku Region Water’s main facility in Halinen from 4 to 11 Dec 2023

The 125th anniversary of Turku Region Water will culminate in the light art installation A story of clean water, which will be available for public viewing after dark on the facade of Turku Region Water’s main facility from 4 to 11 December 2023. The light installation has been designed to tell the story of drinking water in Turku, which has lived through some great changes in its 125 years of history because of urbanisation and changing water reserves.

After its construction in 1954, the main facilities and reservoir of Turku Region Water in Halinen was an important part of making drinking water. The surface waters of the River Aura were coagulated, clarified and filtered in this facility. The treatment method at the Halinen facility has been improved and its capacity increased in several renovations along the years. Originally since 1923, drinking water in Turku had been made at the old facility, which is now used as a museum for the history of water use.

Modern drinking water using natural methods

The Virttaankangas artificial groundwater plant of Turku Region Water was completed in 2011, and after that water from the River Aura was no longer processed for drinking. The quality of the artificial groundwater is good and resembles actual groundwater, needing much fewer chemicals to process than the water in traditional surface water facilities.

The raw water is taken from the River Kokemäenjoki and pumped to Huittinen for pre-treatment. After pre-treatment, the water is pumped to Virttaankangas esker aquifer, where it is purified naturally and blended with the natural groundwater of the area. The water flows through the esker for about three months, and after that it is distributed gravitationally to Turku region homes, companies and factories. In 2021, Unesco referred to the quality of Turku region drinking water as among the best in the world.

• What: Light art installation ‘A story of clean water’
• Where: Facade of Turku Region Water’s main facility, Halistentie 4, 20540 Turku
• When: 4 Dec, 7 pm–9 pm & 5–11 Dec, 4 pm–9 pm

Read more about the journey of water on the website of Turku Region Water: https://turunseudunvesi.fi/en/water-journey/

More history of water treatment in Turku in Finnish on the website of Vesilaitosmuseo:
https://www.vesilaitosmuseo.fi/historia/

Read more about Path of Light: https://www.turku.fi/en/pathlight 

Conceptual photo by Jokojo Oy.