The water-smart society’s system for recycled water

The Swedish water supply system today is mainly designed to use high-quality drinking water for many needs, from industry and agriculture to toilet flushing and irrigation.

This system has historically worked well, but is now challenged due to increasing loads on the water and wastewater infrastructure, the effects of climate change and deteriorating raw water quality. Larger variations in water levels and difficulties in expanding water extraction from existing resources have led to water shortages in several municipalities, especially during the summer months.

The project addresses these challenges by investigating the potential of recycled water – such as treated wastewater, stormwater and greywater – as well as alternative water sources such as surface water. New business models, policy changes and development of infrastructure are central components to enable system change. The project aims to describe technical, economic, cultural and legal obstacles and opportunities to create a system change for efficient and safe recycling of water.

Three geographical areas – Skåne, Gothenburg and Uppsala – serve as example regions where various local initiatives, solutions and applications form the basis of the work. The project is led by RISE (Research Institutes of Sweden), Sweden Water Research and Chalmers University of Technology. The project group includes leading actors in Sweden, which gives us the opportunity to discuss issues at the forefront of development. The broad stakeholder group in the project brings together users, enablers and solution owners to contribute the necessary pieces of the puzzle in the development.

The project is a prestudy granted through Water Wise Societies’ first call Samverkan för Hållbart vatten för alla 2050.