Meet Andreas Pettersson

Andreas Pettersson has been part of Swedish Hydro Solutions from its early days — from business idea and startup, to a small company, and now to a leading player running some of the largest water treatment projects in Sweden with its own unique solutions.

– We’re the sharpest in the industry, he says proudly.

Andreas holds a degree in chemistry from the University of Gothenburg and has also studied biology — an education that has proven highly valuable. He began as a field technician, and a year later he became a project manager, with overall responsibility for driving projects forward and bringing them to completion. When he joined the company, it was still small enough that the job wasn’t purely office-based. On average, he spent two out of five days in the field, though this varied throughout the year. Today, Andreas works more administratively as a project manager but is still frequently on site in his projects.

Variety that keeps the job stimulating

When a new water treatment project is being established, fieldwork enters an intensive phase — the same goes for the dismantling stage. In between, the project manager can focus more on administration and new customer inquiries. Often, the needs of an ongoing project evolve, requiring new assessments regarding equipment and flow parameters.

Andreas typically has three to five projects running in parallel. At the moment, he is working on two projects connected to Västlänken in Gothenburg and is also responsible for the water treatment facility for a major industrial client in Halmstad. In addition, he oversees several other infrastructure projects.

– My projects are running smoothly. I visited the Västlänken sites recently, and I stay in regular contact with the team in Halmstad as well as my other customers.

In the field, the project manager and the field technician often work side by side, as Andreas describes it, even though the project manager has a bit more customer contact and may delegate more to the technician. Roles and responsibilities are not set in stone, and there is no visible hierarchy. The close-knit atmosphere within the company is clear — as are the short decision paths.

– There’s a short distance between an idea and reality. We’re all curious and want to test new solutions. If I want to try something, it doesn’t have to pass over five desks first.