HS Helsinki Eero Wallen’s basement is probably rotting for an unknown reason: Now he presents a theory of a phenomenon that threatens a residential area in Helsinki

Helsinki There is an ever-increasing pond-sized puddle in the woods in Koskela. It never dries and rots near Eero Wallen basement of a detached house.

“This is my theory, and of course I can’t prove it. But that seems to be the case, ”says Wallen.

Wallen believes that the masses of water that hang in place for months will increase the pressure on the groundwater and raise the surface of the groundwater. Groundwater flows under Wallen’s house.

The flooding of the Pikkukoski park forest bordering the Vantaa River has also plagued the nearby Herttua kindergarten for years. Helsingin Sanomat reported in April about water flowing into the kindergarten’s yard.

Wallen believes the same flooding is also the cause of moisture problems in his basement.

“Basement walls weather and iron door frames rust,” Wallen says.

Read more: Floodwaters flowed into the kindergarten yard in Koskela – The situation surprised adults, but the children had fun

Wallen bought a detached house built in 1937 from Nastolantie in 1995.

Wallen, 75, is a former documentary editor of Yle and once made a documentary called Pintaremontti about the renovation of his house.

The name is due to the fact that the broker advertised the house only in need of a surface renovation, but the renovation became a nightmare for the family. The house had to be demolished and rebuilt in practice.

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“When we moved here, Peikkolampi was a little sweet puddle where ducks swam and frogs roared. Now the trees growing at it are rotting and dying. ”

During the renovation, the house was drained according to city instructions. The floors were re-cast and groundwater piping was installed under the basement.

“For seven years, everything was fine, but then the basement started to smell and there were visible signs of a moisture problem,” Wallen says.

Problems in Wallen’s basement worsened at the same rate as the pond, just over a hundred meters away, expanded.

Puddle appears in the woods in the fall and is at its peak in the spring after the snow has closed. The locals call it Peikkolamm.

“The size of Peikkolampi has more than doubled in the time we have lived here,” Wallen says.

Wallen recently measured the length of the edge of the puddle to fifty feet.

“When we moved here, Peikkolampi was a little sweet puddle where ducks swam and frogs roared. Now the trees growing at it are rotting and dying. ”

Wallen’s former neighbor said traditionally said there was a pipe going through Wallen’s site that should carry water out of the area.

“We once wondered if the pipe would have broken and I called the men of town to the scene. They searched for the pipe but couldn’t find it, ”Wallen says.

After a while, Wallen was delighted to see the excavator roaring near the ground. He thought that now the pipe would be sought and repaired.

But an excavator was there to raise the road to kindergarten. Peikkolampi had started flooding the walkway and its yard leading to the kindergarten in the spring.

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“Nothing helps. Our basement is likely to rot. ”

The road was asphalted and made a rampart between the puddle and the yard of the kindergarten.

“After that, the water in the woods started to rise even higher and the moisture problems in our basement got worse.”

Wallen has tried its best to alleviate the moisture problems in the basement. He dug a well in his plot, the bottom of which is a meter below the floor of the basement. The well has an automatic water drain pump.

“Nothing helps. Our basement is likely to rot, ”says Wallen.

Wallen would like the city to investigate why the magnification of Peikkolampi is due to whether the groundwater at his house has risen so much that it enters the basement.

“I endure quite a lot of adversity, but the situation is only getting worse year by year. Neighbors don’t have a similar problem, their basements are dry. ”

Wallen has so far not received an answer from the city to his questions, but is now a landscape architect Inka Lappalainen is pleasant to tell him.

The City of Helsinki is investigating how to solve the flood problem in the Pikkukoski park forest area. In addition to Lappalainen, stormwater experts and nature experts will participate in the survey.

“The implementation of a high-quality wetland-like structure that absorbs stormwater into the park area is being studied for the problem area. The water conditions in the area must be studied carefully and the solution for flooding must be carefully planned so that the area’s natural values ​​can be safeguarded, ”says Lappalainen.

“Preliminary studies” are currently being conducted.

“There is an absolute need to find a solution to these problems. Our next goal is to start planning and show the time for the implementation of the measures ”.

But why is a large, flooded puddle forming in the forest every year?

Lappalainen does not have a definite answer to that, but he already knows that it is difficult to drain that part. There does not appear to be a clear discharge route for waters accumulating up to the puddle.

“The problem area is pretty small. The forest where the area is located extends to the Vantaa River. This particular point is your raven print at the edge of the forest. The site is lower than the rest of the environment and its vegetation is vulture, ”says Lappalainen.

Could the cause of the floods be the rupture of the drain pipe through the Wallen site?

“The tradition information about the pipe is interesting, but there is no more detailed information about it yet. The head of the sewer is in the yard of the kindergarten. The matter must be investigated. “