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Demokratiskolan
The Water card from MethodKit for Society and Politics
Card 125 of 128 · MethodKit for Society & Politics
  • AreaEnvironment & resources
  • Centre of gravityThe municipality
  • Points of influence2 on the journey
  • Decisive electionThe municipal election
Environment & resources

Water

Providing clean running water

Turn on the tap and you use one of the municipality's most advanced services. The waterworks purifies, the pipes deliver, and the water and sewage charge (VA-taxa) that pays for it all is decided by the municipal council (kommunfullmäktige). But the quality requirements come from the central government and the EU, and entire catchment areas are managed across municipal borders.

Where does the power lie?1

  • Municipality · waterworks, pipes & charge · approx 45 %
  • State · requirements, control & management · approx 30 %
  • EU · water & drinking water directives · approx 25 %

Tap water is the municipality's responsibility and the water and sewage charge is decided in the municipal council. The municipal election decides the most, even though the requirements are set by the central government and the EU.

How it works: the breakdown

The municipalityThe responsible authority · centre of gravity
The regionOn the side
Central governmentThe requirements & the control
Who decides?
The municipal council (kommunfullmäktige) and the municipal water and sewage company or the technical administration.
The region has no formal role for water and sewage.
The Riksdag, the Swedish Food Agency (Livsmedelsverket), the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management (Havs- och vattenmyndigheten) and five County Administrative Boards (Länsstyrelsen) that are water authorities.
What do they decide?
The waterworks, the pipe network, sewage treatment and the water and sewage charge. The municipality also protects its water sources.
No formal role. Water is the business of the municipality and the central government, the region handles healthcare.
The drinking water requirements, the Public Water Services Act, and the management of lakes, watercourses and groundwater.
Where are decisions made?
In the municipal council, which decides the charge and the expansion. The documents are public.
No arena of its own for water and sewage questions.
At the agencies and in the water authorities' management plans, which are decided after public consultation (samråd).
Who pays?
The water and sewage charge, not tax. It may only cover the actual cost, never make a profit.
Nothing of the water and sewage system.
The central government budget: monitoring, guidance and grants for water care.
Fastest way in?
Municipal election The municipal election steers the water and sewage decisions. Comments go directly to the responsible authority (huvudman).
Regional election The regional election does not affect your tap water.
General election The consultations on water management are open to everyone.
EUThe EU's Water Framework Directive and the Drinking Water Directive set the requirements for both the tap water and the lakes. Influenced in the European Parliament election.

Read the table by column to understand one level, or by row to compare the levels. The green level is the area's centre of gravity.

How it works: follow the decision

The case Your tap water takes shape
  1. EU

    The EU sets the requirements

    The Drinking Water Directive decides what may be present in tap water, and the Water Framework Directive requires that lakes, watercourses and groundwater are in good condition. The Swedish rules build further on them.

  2. State

    The central government translates and monitors

    The Swedish Food Agency writes the Swedish drinking water regulations. Five County Administrative Boards are water authorities and decide management plans for the country's water.

    Point of influence

    The consultations on the management plans are open. Private individuals can respond too.

  3. Municipality

    The water source is protected

    The municipality takes raw water from a lake or from the groundwater. Around the source there is often a water protection area with rules for what may be done nearby.

  4. Municipality

    The waterworks purifies, the council sets the price

    The waterworks purifies and pumps out the water, and the municipality's environment office checks the quality. The water and sewage charge that finances it all is decided by the municipal council, the elected representatives in your municipality.

    Point of influence

    The charge is a political decision. The municipal election decides, and the charge proposals are official documents.

  5. Your everyday life

    The tap delivers

    Clean water, around the clock, for a few öre per litre. One of the few bills where you know exactly which elected representatives set the price.

The journey looks the same in reverse: what has been built came the same way, through the same decisions. Whoever knows where the decisions are made also knows where they can be changed.

Questions to discuss

  1. Do you know where your tap water comes from, and what could threaten it?

  2. The water and sewage networks in many municipalities are old. Who should pay for the upgrade, today's or tomorrow's subscribers?

  3. Should water be allowed to cost more so that we use less, or is cheap water a right?

  4. What is a reasonable protection zone around a water source if it limits farming or building?

  5. What would your everyday life look like after three days without tap water, and whose responsibility would it be?

Glossary

VA-taxa
The charge for water and sewage, decided by the municipal council and allowed only to cover the costs.
Huvudman
The body responsible for a service. For water and sewage it is the municipality.
Vattenskyddsområde
An area around a water source with special rules that protect the raw water.
Vattenmyndighet
Five County Administrative Boards that each manage one water district and decide management plans.
Råvatten
The water from the lake or the groundwater before it is purified into drinking water.

Go further

Footnotes

1) This is an estimate of how decision-making power over the issue is split between the municipality, the region, central government and the EU, based on how responsibility is divided in legislation. A teaching guide, not an exact measurement.