Sewage system Managing Agencies' decision-making process on renewing today's sewage system networks

Purpose: Rejuvenating the water and sewer system is called a renewal step, which is a planned replacement of ground wiring in the field, which restores the operation of the wiring or improves its capacity. Most of Sweden's VA pipelines are built in the 19th century. They are now in need to be renewed. The county's in Sweden finance and manage the VA networks using a VA-tax which is paid by all users. Sweden has had a low VA-tax for many years. A low VA tax can lead that county's are not afford to replace the existing pipeline network. The purpose is to provide the reader with the knowledge that Sweden's municipalities have at the renewal stage of the VA network, and the approach to the choice of prioritization measures. Method: The work has focused on qualitative and quantitative processing in form of literature studies, document analysis and interviews. The work contains seven qualitative semi-structured and five structured interviews. The document analysis shows a clear picture of the renewal and renewal needs in VA organizations. Findings: All requested VA managers use some type of GIS system, in the category of database-based decision support systems specified by Power (2002), as a way to handle and analyse large amounts of structured data. The municipalities that are most worried about not being able to finance the renewal act are the municipalities that are small and have less resources to work with, for example, fees, work teams and civil servants. In the question of what measures must be taken to increase focus on the existing VA network and a stepping stone to the renewal act. The VA tax should be designed more according to the actual cost, despite politicians consider. This in order to avoid shock increases in the farm fee that goes against a long-term planning. Implications: The report has focused on gaining insight into why the renewal rate is too low. This may have several reasons, however VA-organizations describe that they are not used to work in decision support systems and the importance of making decisions in combination with other methods. Limitations: This thesis shows only county's decision-making process and what kind of decision support system they have in use in their operations. The thesis focuses on why the renewal pact is not prioritized higher but does not go into detail why another priority is costlier or timelier to implement. Keywords: Decision-making process, Decision Support System, Lead network, Revenue, Renewable needs, Self-sufficiency, Sewer planning, Sewage System Taxes, Water Services Act