Waterworks and drinking water quality
Drinking water is our most important food. It is locally produced, of good quality and delivered directly to your tap. There are 25 waterworks in Skellefteå municipality. The municipal drinking water network transports drinking water from our waterworks to approximately 68,000 residents in our municipality.
In Skellefteå municipality, you can drink the water that comes out of the tap. We have drinking water of good quality that we measure continously. You don't need to filter it or do anything else with it.
The drinking water in Skellefteå costs 35 SEK per cubic meter and that's a lot cheaper and more environmentally friendly than buying bottled water.
If you want bubbles in your water, you can use a carbonation machine. If you want flavored water you can add lemon, lime, cucumber, melon or other fruits and vegetables that you like.
Read more about drinking water in Skellefteå
Skellefteå municipality's water and waste department is responsible for 25 waterworks. From some of the plants, water is distributed to several different locations. Here is a list of the waterworks in the municipality:
- Guldstaden waterwork in Skellefteå, the water is distributed to the city center and some surrounding areas.
- Boliden, the water is distributed to Boliden, Strömfors and Bjurvattnet.
- Bureå
- Burträsk, water is distributed to Burträsk, Södra Åbyn, Risnäs and Bodbysund.
- Bygdeträsk
- Bygdsiljum
- Byske, the water is distributed to Byske, including the campsite.
- Falmark
- Fällfors
- Granbergsträsk
- Innansjön
- Jörn
- Kalvträsk
- Lövånger
- Mjödvattnet, the water is distributed to Mjödvattnet, Lappvattnet, Tjärn, Vallen, Lappvattsheden and Bursiljum.
- Myrheden
- Ragvaldsträsk
- Renström
- Sandfors
- Stavaträsk
- Storbrännan
- Svanfors
- Talludden
- Åbyn
- Åsträsk
The water from Guldstaden waterwork is supplied to those who previously received their drinking water from the Aborren or Slind waterworks.
The water supply consists mainly of groundwater pumped up from wells in the ground in several different extraction areas. This water is also supplemented by water pumped up from the river, which is allowed to infiltrate into the ground and then pumped up and sent to the waterworks, where it is mixed with the other water from the various abstraction areas. At the waterworks, it is purified and treated to ensure that it is of good drinking water quality. The water is then piped on to the connected subscribers in Skellefteå urban area and the surrounding area.
The illustration is not to scale or exact, but only shows in a simplified way what it looks like.
Water quality
Do you want to know the hardness and limits of your drinking water? Check out the latest analysis report for some common parameters from waterworks (in Swedish).
Limit values
Limit values for outgoing drinking water from waterworks according to the Swedish Food Agency (LIVSFS 2022:12):
- Color number (measures if the water is colored) 15 mg/l
- Turbidity (cloudiness) 0.5 FNU
- Iron 100 µg/l
- pH 10.5 at waterworks outlet, ≥ 6.5 to ≤ 9.5 at users
- Manganese 50 µg/l (at users)
- Chloride 250 mg/l
- PFAS 4 90 ng/l at present. From 2026-01-01, 4 ng/l applies.
(For manganese, chloride and PFAS 4, there is only a limit value for drinking water at users)
Small glossary
- Soft and hard water: The hardness of water is measured in German degrees of hardness and is written °dH. Water is said to be hard at 10°dH or above, medium hard at 5.0-9.9°dH, soft at 2.2-4.9°dH and very soft if it is 0-2.1°dH.
- Color number: A measure that indicates how colored the water is. Can indicate humic substances (e.g. soil, muck) and iron.
- Iron: A measure of the iron content of the water.
- Turbidity: A measure of the cloudiness of the water.
- pH: A measure of the acidity of the water. 7 on the pH scale is neutral. The scale is logarithmic, meaning that pH 6 is 10 times more acidic than pH 7 and pH 5 is 100 times more acidic than pH 7.
The current report for PFAS in the drinking water for which Skellefteå municipality's Water and Waste Department is responsible:
- The drinking water sources for which the water and wastewater department is responsible are largely spared from PFAS contamination.
- In the years 2022 and 2023, the Water and Waste Department analyzed its drinking water sources for PFAS. The drinking water source in Fällfors has measurable levels of PFAS of about 30 nanograms/liter. This is well below the current limit values (90 nanograms/liter). The Swedish Food Agency's recommendations today state that drinking water containing less than 90 nanograms of PFAS per liter can be drunk without special measures. Boliden has a value of 0.42 nanograms/liter. No measurable levels of PFAS have been found in other drinking water sources, for which the municipal Water and Waste Department is responsible.
- On January 1, 2026, the Swedish Food Agency's new regulations with new limit values for PFAS (4ng/l) will apply. Skellefteå municipality started work in 2023 to install separation for PFAS in Fällfors. There will be regular sampling to ensure that the separation works.
- In addition to the regular self-monitoring program, we will also introduce sampling at a certain interval to safely ensure that our water sources continue to be free of PFAS.