Background: In 2021, the Swedish Food Agency published a survey of which water utilities supply drinking water with PFAS. According to that survey, only 123 out of 290 municipalities analyzed drinking water for PFAS. In these municipalities there were a total of 247 waterworks supplying more than 500 people. 154 of these had been analyzed for PFAS and PFAS had been found in 72 waterworks.
During October and November 2023, SVT asked these 72 water utilities about their latest measurement results. Everyone answered. In nine municipalities there are waterworks that supply drinking water with a PFAS content above 4 ng/litre. (In Hultsfred there are waterworks with high PFAS levels, but those wells are now closed).
The waterworks only need to carry out PFAS measurements if there is a suspicion that the raw water may contain PFAS. Carrying out PFAS measurements is voluntary until the new limit value comes into effect in January 2026. There may therefore be a dark number of PFAS-contaminated water sources in addition to those we have found in this survey.