Municipal wastewater - KOSTRA, 2013

Simultaneously, there is also a large remaining share of around 18 per cent where compliance is unknown due to lack of reporting of permits and/or corresponding discharges.

The purpose of treatment permits is to prevent unwanted effects on the natural environment that is receiving treated wastewater from the wastewater facilities. Treatment permits are issued by the authorities, and adjusted according to the receiving water recipient and its sensitivity to pollution. The strictest permits are therefore to be found in areas where pollution loads are already high.

Akershus and Rogaland have the longest pipeline system

Estimations for 2013 show that there were around 36 500 kilometres of municipal sewage pipelines in the whole country (not including separate storm water pipelines), which equals approximately 90 per cent of the circumference of the earth at the equator. The sewage pipelines can be divided into 7 700 kilometres of combined sewage and storm water and 28 800 kilometres of a separate sewage system.

In addition to the 36 500 kilometres of sewage systems, there are an additional 16 000 kilometres of separate storm water pipelines; in total around 52 500 kilometres of municipal wastewater pipelines in Norway.

The municipalities in the counties of Akershus and Rogaland hold the longest wastewater pipeline system, while counties in Oslo and Nordland have the largest share of combined sewer systems.

0.44 per cent of sewage system renewed

In 2013, 162 out of the 36 500 kilometres of the existing sewage pipeline system were renewed, representing 0.44 per cent. Installation of new sewage pipelines constitute 344 kilometres during the same time period, thus with a significantly quicker rate than renewal itself.

Unless renewal rates increase, aging sewage pipelines throughout the municipalities will be the unavoidable result. Even without new installations it will take more than 200 years to renew the whole pipeline system with the current renewal rate.

The age of the sewage pipeline system for the country as a whole has been estimated at around 30 years old (38 years when adjusted for pipelines laid down in an unknown period – constituting 19 per cent of the total length). Around 2.6 per cent of the municipal wastewater pipelines were installed before 1940, while 48 per cent were installed in 1980 or later.

Highest renewal rates in Oslo, Akershus and Hordaland

Renewals tend to vary from one year to another. The key figure “Percentage of total sewage pipeline system renewed, 3-year average” will even out these cyclical variations.

For the 3-year period 2011-2013, the municipalities in the counties of Oslo, Akershus and Hordaland saw the most renewals at respectively 1.22 per cent, 0.69 per cent and 0.58 per cent, while Nord-Trøndelag and Sogn og Fjordane renewed the least, with 0.22 per cent and 0.24 per cent respectively.

For the country as a whole, the 3-year-average renewal total was 0.46 per cent, thus slightly higher than the single 2013 estimate of 0.44 per cent.

In 2013, 41 per cent of 402 reporting municipalities (428 in total) reported that they had renewed at least part of the sewage pipeline system, 8 per cent specified zero renewal and the remainder did not answer that particular question. Corresponding figures on installation of new pipelines were 52 and 18 per cent of the municipalities respectively.

Variation in standard of sewerage pipeline systems

An estimated 2 100 sewage overflows have taken place throughout the country in 2013. This corresponds to 58 sewage overflows per thousand kilometre of municipal pipeline system – a 7 per cent increase compared to 2012.

Furthermore, the municipalities have accepted liability for around 300 closed cases of basement flooding in 2013.

85 per cent of inhabitants connected to municipal wastewater facilities

For 2013, it has been estimated that slightly less than 85 per cent of inhabitants are connected to municipal wastewater facilities of 50 person equivalents (pe) or more. Private solutions are most common among wastewater facilities of less than 50 pe.

Income from fees and fee calculation basis almost equal

In 2013, the fee calculation basis was NOK 1 458 per inhabitant, and the income from fees was NOK 1 493 per inhabitant. This constitutes an increase of 5.0 and 4.5 per cent respectively compared to 2012.

Municipal costs in the wastewater sector are predominantly covered by fees paid by the users of the service. Regulations stipulate that fees in the municipal water and wastewater sector cannot exceed the municipality’s actual costs for providing that particular service (“self cost”). Accurately stipulating income from fees to cover the real calculation basis in a single year is complicated, thus the municipalities are allowed to decide on fee levels so that income from fees over a five-year period equals the fee calculation basis.

Throughout the last five years, income from fees has increased by 23 per cent, while the fee calculation basis has increased by 22 per cent. In 2009, the income from fees was 7 per cent less than the fee calculation basis, but overall, for the whole five-year-period 2009-13, the income from fees has, in contrast, been 2 per cent higher than the fee calculation basis.