Environmental pollutants in surface water can be derived from today’s industries and households, but are also a result of old emissions and polluted land. These toxins are often long-lived and spread easily in our waters. Hazardous substances from factories, stormwater, toxic antifouling paints, landfills, and wastewater negatively affect water quality. Some substances, such as TBT, are harmful in very small concentrations. Although many toxic substances are now banned, they continue to leak from old industrial sites and other places where they once were used. We still do not really know which environmental toxins are in our waters, nor in what amount. Within Rich Waters, we have therefore worked to take samples, conduct analyses, and trace the sources of emissions. Such data is necessary to ensure we take the right measures where they are most useful.
Better knowledge of the state of the environment of various bodies of water can actually lead to their status being lowered. In the long term, this is positive, as it also leads to new calls for action.
The six county administrative boards included in the project have followed several courses of monitoring that variously contribute to increasing their common knowledge of which environmental toxins are present in our waters and where they come from. For example, metals have been examined in mining areas, and sediments from both Lake Mälaren and smaller lakes have been tested for environmental toxins. In another important result, the project has led to better collaboration between organisations that work with environmental toxin testing. The County Administrative Board of Stockholm has made measurements and information about PFAS available to the public via a web-based map, a so-called “story map”.
The investigations of the project complement the environmental monitoring intrinsic to water management.
Publications:
Benefits of coordination of sampling and measures for reduction of contaminants – final report (28 June 2024)
Source tracing of PFAS to Lake Näsnaren (21 March 2025)
Source identification of PFAS found in the outflow of lake Aspen (29 September 2022)
Occurrence of organic environmental pollutants in Swedish surface waters (3 February 2021)
One of Sweden’s many old landfills is located in Älvkarleby. Here, Älvkarleby Municipality and the company Bioremed AB have planted fast-growing willow trees in an attempt to clean up the contaminated area. The plantings are irrigated using water cycled through the area in a closed loop. When it rains at the landfill, leachate is formed. The leachate is led out into two ponds, where it is then used to irrigate the willow trees. This prevents leachate pollution from reaching the surrounding waterways. The willows have been growing even faster than expected, because they are irrigated continuously.
After harvesting, the trunks and branches are chipped on-site and transported to a heating plant for incineration. At the heating plant, the flue gases can be cleaned of pollutants and the ash can be disposed of properly. The first two harvests show that the roots, stems and leaves of the willows absorb heavy metals and toxic substances – including PFAS. The plants purify both the soil and the leachate.
Publication:
Leachate and soil treatment at the Dragmossen landfill in Älvkarleby municipality (31 December 2024)
Measurements have revealed that the waters of marinas often are contaminated with high levels of the endocrine disrupting substance tributyltin (TBT). Paints containing TBT have long been banned, but were once used to prevent algae and other fouling on boats, mainly in marine environments. A sustainable alternative to using toxic antifouling paints is to use a power-washer to rid boat halls of fouling. At the request of local boat owners and boat clubs, the City of Västerås has set up a boat hull cleaning station.
To use the boat washing service, the owner must be able to prove that the hull of their boat is unpainted or painted with an approved topcoat. To this end, the City of Västerås also offers owners the opportunity to measure the levels of antifouling paint on their vessels’ hulls using a so-called “XRF meter” that quickly and easily identifies the metals contained in the paint. If the measurement shows that the paint is free of environmentally hazardous substances, they can simply book an appointment at the boat washing location.
Publication:
Limit the use of toxic anti-fouling by boat bottom washing (4 May 2022)
The responsibility for the content of this website lies entirely with the County Administrative Board of Västmanland and the project partners. The content does not reflect the official opinion of the European Union.
