Water management and technology in Swedish municipalities - assessment of possibilities of exchange and transfer of experiences

The water and wastewater infrastructure began to be developed in Sweden more than one hundred years ago. Much attention was given, in the beginning, to fire prevention and hygienic problems with water borne diseases. Somewhat later storm sewers (combined system) were constructed to remove storm water and wastewater and then successively more efficient wastewater treatment plants were developed. Today water and wastewater handling is seen as a multidisciplinary subject where also attention is given to possible effects of climate changes and possibilities for resources recovery. Implementation of advanced water and wastewater systems involves not only different technologies but also effective administration and legislation. The implementation may be on national (also involving EU directives), regional and local scale. As a case study, the local implementation will be illustrated for the municipality Växjö in South Sweden with about 80,000 inhabitants