Discharges to water and sewage sludge production in 2022
No significant changes in discharges to water in 2022
Statistical news from Statistics Sweden and Swedish Environmental Protection Agency 2025-02-19 8.00
Future publicationsStatistics Sweden’s statistics show that the discharges to water of phosphorous, nitrogen and oxygen demanding substances have not changed much since 2020. Discharges via municipal wastewater treatment plants have decreased over the last 35 years.
In 2022, the total discharges of nutrients to water via municipal wastewater treatment plants subject to authorisation, amounted to approximately 250 tonnes of phosphorous, 15 000 tonnes of nitrogen, 5 600 tonnes of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD7), and 36 400 tonnes of chemical oxygen demand (CODCr), including some wastewater overflow at the plants.
| Sea basin district | Tot-P | Tot-N | BOD7 | COD-Cr |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bothnian Bay | 11 | 1 283 | 466 | 1 580 |
| Bothnian Sea | 28 | 3 335 | 894 | 3 956 |
| Baltic Sea | 115 | 6 154 | 2 064 | 17 681 |
| The Sound (Öresund) | 29 | 896 | 470 | 2 969 |
| Kattegat | 58 | 2 937 | 1 617 | 9 551 |
| Skagerrak | 5 | 239 | 78 | 653 |
| Total 2022 | 246 | 14 844 | 5 589 | 36 389 |
| 2020 | 249 | 14 779 | 5 822 | 39 145 |
| 2018 | 266 | 14 982 | 6 548 | 40 483 |
| 2016 | 237 | 15 414 | 6 612 | 35 257 |
| 2014 | 260 | 15 743 | 7 549 | 44 496 |
| 2012 | 275 | 17 120 | 7 993 | 47 264 |
| 2010 | 267 | 17 419 | 7 908 | 46 510 |
| 2008 | 313 | 18 433 | 7 447 | 46 893 |
| 2006 | 362 | 18 347 | 8 570 | 50 118 |
| 2004 | 318 | 17 779 | 7 869 | 48 315 |
| 2002 | 351 | 18 036 | 8 158 | 49 903 |
| 2000 | 424 | 18 977 | 9 784 | 57 472 |
| 1998 | 430 | 21 376 | 11 270 | 58 463 |
| 1995 | 470 | 25 940 | 13 060 | 66 840 |
| 1992 | 470 | 25 310 | 12 205 | 62 190 |
| 1990 | 655 | 26 200 | 14 050 | 69 150 |
| 1987 | 1 050 | 25 600 | 16 700 | 66 300 |
The average removal rate was unchanged for phosphorous, nitrogen and BOD7, compared to 2020. In a twenty years perspective, the average removal rate for phosphorous and BOD7 has been stable but has increased for nitrogen.
| Phosphorous | Nitrogen | BOD7 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In (tonnes) |
Out (tonnes) |
Rate of removal (%) |
In (tonnes) |
Out (tonnes) |
Rate of removal (%) |
In (tonnes) |
Out (tonnes) |
Rate of removal (%) |
|
| Total 2022 |
5 169 | 246 | 95 | 42 151 | 14 844 | 65 | 211 507 | 5 589 | 97 |
| 2020 | 5 095 | 249 | 95 | 41 737 | 14 779 | 65 | 208 770 | 5 822 | 97 |
| 2018 | 5 351 | 266 | 95 | 41 294 | 14 982 | 64 | 224 533 | 6 548 | 97 |
| 2016 | 5 546 | 237 | 96 | 41 049 | 15 414 | 62 | 215 488 | 6 612 | 97 |
| 2014 | 5 176 | 260 | 95 | 41 340 | 15 743 | 62 | 208 340 | 7 549 | 96 |
| 2012 | 5 307 | 275 | 95 | 41 967 | 17 120 | 59 | 196 706 | 7 993 | 96 |
| 2010 | 5 563 | 267 | 95 | 42 292 | 17 419 | 59 | 202 100 | 7 908 | 96 |
| 2008 | 6 346 | 313 | 95 | 42 360 | 18 433 | 56 | 202 717 | 7 447 | 96 |
| 2006 | 6 948 | 362 | 95 | 42 956 | 18 347 | 57 | 207 611 | 8 570 | 96 |
| 2004 | 7 113 | 318 | 96 | 41 417 | 17 779 | 57 | 207 736 | 7 869 | 96 |
| 2002 | 7 090 | 351 | 95 | 40 999 | 18 036 | 56 | 208 201 | 8 158 | 96 |
| 2000 | 7 743 | 424 | 95 | 41 269 | 18 977 | 54 | 213 923 | 9 784 | 95 |
| 1998 | 6 578 | 430 | 94 | 40 086 | 21 376 | 47 | 207 471 | 11 271 | 95 |
Agricultural use remains the most common application for sewage sludge
Use on arable land was the most common application of sewage sludge from municipal wastewater treatment plants in 2022. The total amount of sewage sludge used in agriculture was estimated to be around 107 000 tonnes of dry substance, corresponding to 54 percent of the total net production. This is an increase by eight percentage points compared to 2020.
The total production of sewage sludge (dry substance) in wastewater treatment plants in 2022 was around 198 000 tonnes.
| Sewage sludge use categories (tonnes dry matter) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Production (tonnes) |
Arable land |
Forest land |
Plant soil Normal P |
Plant soil High P |
Landfill cover |
Incineration, No P extraction |
Incineration | Landfill | Other use |
Storage | Use not specified |
||
| 2022 | 197 778 | 106 737 | 48 | 32 730 | 13 007 | 21 659 | 2 993 | 54 | 1 218 | 16 427 | 656 | 2 251 | |
| 2020 | 208 348 | 96 328 | 440 | 26 281 | 20 981 | 33 636 | 5 158 | 0 | 1 697 | 12 252 | 10 432 | 1 142 | |
| 2018 | 211 604 | 82 288 | 137 | 26 271 | 27 768 | 36 199 | 2 816 | 0 | 2 299 | 21 095 | 12 466 | 265 | |
| 2016 | 204 253 | 69 506 | 150 | 23 908 | 31 733 | 44 506 | 4 154 | 0 | 3 060 | 14 368 | 11 157 | 1 711 | |
| 2014 | 200 510 | 50 950 | 570 | 20 130 | 38 980 | 47 520 | 1 790 | 380 | 3 560 | 20 040 | 13 650 | 2 940 | |
| 2012 | 207 460 | 48 340 | 1 280 | 25 510 | 41 140 | 47 450 | 1 290 | 190 | 7 130 | 23 580 | 2 470 | 9 080 | |
| 2010 | 203 520 | 50 460 | 1 680 | 26 710 | 38 500 | 41 490 | 2 220 | 230 | 7 540 | 17 260 | 17 390 | 40 | |
| 2008 | 213 790 | 55 640 | 1 920 | 17 580 | 40 510 | 42 510 | 330 | 130 | 6 240 | 15 180 | 6 790 | 26 990 | |
Further reading
More detailed statistics about the discharges to water from municipal wastewater treatment plants can be found in the Statistical Report “MISAM BR2501 - Discharges to water and sewage sludge production in 2022”.
These statistics are also available in the Statistical Database
The statistics published in the Statistical Reports for 2022, 2020, 2018, 2016 and 2014 are also available in Statistics Sweden’s Statistical Database. In the database, the tables can be tailored to the user’s needs by selecting specific variables and groups. It is also possible to export the statistics to other file formats for further analysis and to use Statistics Sweden’s API for automated data requests.
Publication
More detailed statistics about discharges to water from municipal wastewater treatment plants can be found in the Statistical Report Discharges to water and sewage sludge production in 2022.
Statistical Database
More information is available in the Statistical Database
Feel free to use the facts from this statistical news but remember to state Source: Statistics Sweden.