Rising water prices – here it has become the most expensive

Swedish water prices continue to rise after last year’s record increase. This is according to a new survey from Swedish Water. On average, the increase is 14.1 percent for Sweden’s municipalities. Last year, the average increase was 8.1 percent, which was the highest measured increase since the organization began collecting statistics in 2002.

For a “detached house” (two adults and one child), the average cost is SEK 10,515 per year measured in 2024’s price range. Interest costs and generally higher energy prices are stated to be the reason for the price increase.

Norrtälje most expensive in the country: “Terrible”

The differences are large between the country’s municipalities. In Norrtälje, water is the most expensive at SEK 19,874. Malin Olsson lives in Norrtälje and thinks it sounds terrible that Norrtälje residents pay the most in the country for their water.

– I have two teenage sons, so we talk about whether these showers are too long, but now I have better arguments. Maybe I can ask them to shower at the gym, says Malin Olsson.

She tells us that other ways they save water is to collect rainwater in barrels instead of watering with a hose.

Norrtälje resident Anders Hultgren has also noticed the price increase.

– It is far too much. There is no reason, I think, for it to cost so much, he says.

“Trying to streamline”

Andreas Lundin-Lindgren, CEO of Norrtälje Water and Waste, says that the high prices depend on the municipality’s conditions.

– We are a large sparsely populated municipality and we have a large archipelago. It has cost a lot of money to expand the system to the archipelago and the countryside, says Anders Lundin-Lindgren

The fact that Norrtälje in particular has the highest water prices, he believes, is also due to the fact that they have the highest number of holiday homes in the whole country. The municipalities with the lowest costs have around SEK 4,000. The cheapest is in Fagersta, where the cost is SEK 3,739 per year.

– I think the state should come in and help us municipalities that do not have the conditions to keep 4,000 per year. There are huge differences in Sweden, we need help, says Anders Lundin-Lindgren.

He believes that they find it difficult to influence prices.

– We are trying to make it more efficient, but we have increased demands on us. Partly on national water, sewage treatment and stormwater management. We have to climate-proof our facilities and work with safety at our facilities as well.