Overjarva Gard, Solna

Overjarva Gard can trace its history as far back as the 5^th Century.  The site served as an early Viking village and burial site, a convent, a state owned dairy farm, military fields, and stable and racetrack.  Presently, the School of Nature Studies makes their home here.

The School of Nature Studies focuses on environmental science curricula that provides daily hands-on contact with different subjects and methodologies. Students, adults and educators participate in the year-round programs to gain positive nature experiences that are the basics for explaining the ecological connection and to be able to understand environmental questions.

The Department of Biotechnology at the Royal Institute of Technology has pioneered a pilot project to treat wastewater at the School.  They designed and built a sewage treatment plant in connection to the school that not only breaks down waste biologically, but provides an educational tool and a surprisingly attractive display as well.

Students at the school use separator toilets. Once waste is flushed, it is rapidly digested as it passes through five tanks, both oxygen-free and oxygen-rich, each filled with microorganisms and aquatic plants. Here, the students and visitors may watch as the water flows through tanks first filled with algae, then with higher aquatic rooted plants, and finally with fish. By the time the wastewater passes through a marsh and pond, it is technically well water and legally drinkable.