At water depths below 15 metres, Byfjorden is dead. The bottom is covered by a several centimeter thick and fuzzy layer of sulfur bacteria that forms due to the water’s high concentration of hydrogen sulfide. No life can take hold there.
In 2010, researchers from Gothenburg University found a solution to the problem. By pumping down oxygen-rich water, a circulation could be created that enabled animals and plants to re-establish themselves. But after the oxygenation project was finished and the municipality of Uddevalla did not want to take over the operating costs, life disappeared again.
Want to reproduce successful result
Now a new attempt is made. Through non-profit work by Stiftelsen Byfjorden, financed by Uddevalla municipality with 2.6 million for three years, it is certain to be able to reproduce the result.
But is it sustainable to have a pumping device for this?
– Yes, because ask the person who has a pacemaker if he thinks it is sustainable? You save lives. But if we can achieve a more permanent solution, it would be a huge upside, says Lars-Olof Axelsson.
The solution: Waste water
This time there is political agreement on the issue. Martin Pettersson (SD), chairman of the municipal board, believes that for them as a coastal municipality, a living sea is an urgent issue.
The hope from the foundation is that the municipality, when the project is finished, has made a decision to redirect the municipality’s treated wastewater to a deeper discharge. This could create a stable supply of oxygen-rich water. Martin Pettersson shares that vision.
– In my world, we will continue to have an oxygenation of Byfjorden, hopefully through something more permanent. And if we don’t have that, we have to renew this project.