Matviy Andreyev

Around the Bortnychi station of aeration in Kyiv

Matviy Andreyev

I noticed this place from above when Google Maps appeared, and wanted to get there since.

The treated water channel

The beginning of publicly accessible part of processed water channel looks like this. An opening of a collector coming from one part of the treatment plant.

The beginning of the processed water channel. Mouth of a collector. Kyiv's outskirts, sewage treatment plant

The relatively clean water flows over some rapids, perhaps, consisting of concrete waste.

Little rapids made of concrete waste

The level of water in the channel can vary significantly depending on rain and melting snow during the spring. No rapids can be seen during high waters.

Springtime high levels of water in the processed wastewater channel. Bortnychi

Surrounding meadows got flooded. It was not every year that this happened. The distant houses on the picture are the edge of Bortnychi.

A tree surrounded by springtime high water. Spring near Bortnychi, Kyiv region

Some pipes crossing the channel. I think these were (and possible still are) used to drain excessive water from a lake in Bortnychi. One of the pipes has a footpath on it.

a footbridge on a pipe over the processed wastewater channel.

A group of dogs was using these pipes to cross the channel. I gave them food, they followed me from one riverbank to another.

dogs crossing the channel via a pipe. Processed wastewater channel near Bortnychi

The dogs always preferred the pipe that had no footbridge on it.

The dogs crossing the channel via a pipe. Processed wastewater channel near Bortnychi

There is a more serious bridge strong enough for small trucks. It had beautiful borders of moss and grass.

a concrete bridge

A second bridge — just the middle section — stands nearby. Why? What for? It's for the photos, man.

an inaccessible middle section of a bridge amidst the water

The waterfall

The water here roars. Welcome to the dispersing waterfall of the BSA.

dispersing waterfall of Kyiv's Bortnychi station of aeration
dispersing waterfall of Kyiv's Bortnychi station of aeration
Waterfall of the BSA, a torrent
Rear view of the waterfall of the BSA
waterfall of the BSA, a concrete separator with a young tree growing on it

There is a footbridge over the beginning of the waterfall.

A metal footbridge over an industrial waterfall

Look left from that bridge to see the inclined spillway with concrete obstacles. Look right to witness the roaring waterfall.

A concrete labyrinth on the way of rushing processed wastewater
The beginning of the dispersing water labyrinth
View from the top end of the dispersing labyrinth

Somehow a plant fixed itself on a thin concrete rib of this dispersing spillway. Unfortunately, the plant was not there the next year.

A tree tried to grow on a thin concrete rib of a dispersing spillway, amidst the rushing water. A photograph by Matviy Andreiev. October 2007

The place is full of steam in winter.

Steam over the dispersing spillway in winter. Snow. Frost. A little building made of bricks

Silt fields

These are grey or green — depending on the weather and the season — man-made swamps, split into a grid by concrete drains and roads.

A silt field near the BSA after rain
A silt field near the BSA after rain. Wide angle panorama in a cloudy weather

A drain among the silt.

A concrete drain on a silt field, Kyiv
A concrete drain on a silt field, Kyiv

BSA

A secondary settling tank — needless to say, it is one of many such here.

Secondary settling tank
Secondary settling tanks of the Bortnychi station of aeration in Kyiv

Fountains near the entrance to one section of the station.

Fountains on the BSA

A video

240p, 08:39, youtube.com/watch?v=D6cxGl37wIA. It is a very low-res video from the recent antiquity.

Укр Eng