To reduce health risks, limit values have been lowered for several substances that can be found in our drinking water. In Sweden, stricter values now also apply for, for example, arsenic and lead.
Anyone who has non-municipal drinking water with more than 50 users or who produces more than 10,000 litres of water per day must also comply with the new limit values.
This could include, for example, preschools and restaurants.
This is difficult for individual communities that are not experts in the area, says Pär Dalhielm, CEO of Svenskt Vatten.
Smaller households with their own well are not covered by the same rules, but it is recommended to follow the Swedish National Food Administration's guidelines.
At the same time, a number of companies selling drinking water purification have appeared on the market.
Sample without analysis
One of them has been reported 45 times to the Swedish National Complaints Board (ARN).
Rose-Marie Andersson, 67, who lives in a house with her own well, tells TT that she received a test kit sent home from the company, which offered to analyse drinking water samples for free.
Two days after she sent the sample, one of the company's salespeople called and said that her drinking water needed to be purified.
I became a little suspicious. An analysis cannot take so little time, says Rose-Marie Andersson.
When the seller wanted to take a new sample, she hoped it would now be sent to a laboratory.
But he used a sample he had in his bag, said that the drinking water needed to be purified and tried to sell the equipment directly for around 40,000 kronor, she says.
When Rose-Marie Andersson said she couldn't afford it, the seller wanted her to take out a loan through the company.
She firmly refused.
After two days I still received an order confirmation, then invoices for things I never received or ordered.
“Warning bells”
According to Marie Wiezell, a lawyer at the Swedish Consumers' Association, the methods described should ring alarm bells. They involve situations where the customer is caught off guard, pushy phone calls and direct sales at the door.
Then it's best to stop, check with the company and make a decision in peace and quiet. If you want to test your water, you can check what the municipality uses for analysis and purification.
In an email response to TT, the company writes:
“In some cases, simpler indicative tests are used as a first step to identify deviations or provide guidance on which parameters may need to be analyzed further.”
A complete analysis of a drinking water sample should take ten days from the start of the analysis, according to the accreditation authority Swedac.
Facts: Stricter limit values for drinking water
New limit values apply to several substances according to the Swedish National Food Administration's drinking water regulations, which came into full force this year.
The legal requirement covers individual drinking water facilities as soon as they:
– supply at least 50 people or produce more than 10,000 litres of water per day.
–or if they supply drinking water to public or commercial activities, such as retirement homes, cafes or preschools.
Own wells for private use are not covered by the same mandatory legislation.
However, the Swedish National Food Agency recommends that households that have their own well for private use follow the authority's guidelines.
For households with their own well for private use, the Swedish National Food Agency advises using laboratories that are accredited specifically for drinking water.
Sources: EU Drinking Water Directive, Swedish National Food Agency, SGU, Swedac and the Swedish National Complaints Board (Arn).
