Municipal water supply, 2008

Norway had 1 004 municipal waterworks with around 4.1 million users in 2008 (85.2 per cent of the population). The waterworks produced 725 million m³ of water all together. Around one third of the production in 2008 was lost due to leakages in the pipeline systems. Leakages are calculated to 240 million m³. The estimated average age of the pipelines is 34 years. In this estimate, the pipelines of unknown age are included according to a distribution formula described in “About the statistics”.

The renewal activity varies. Calculated as moving average for the period 2006-2008, the rate of renewal is 0.66 per cent of the total length of pipelines. For the period 2002-2004, the rate was 0.48 per cent. The rate of renewal is not as high as it used to be, but it is not yet possible to determine whether it has stagnated. A source of error for the renewal figures is improved reporting from the waterworks since 2002. Thus, the rate of renewal presented here may not reflect the actual renewal activity.

Satisfactory water quality

In 2008, a total of 99 per cent of those who are connected to municipal waterworks had a satisfactory content of thermo-tolerant intestinal bacteria (E.coli) in their water, while 83 per cent had satisfactory levels of colour and 80 per cent had satisfactory levels of acidity (pH). There are only slight variations from the year before.

Households were main consumers

With 41 per cent of total water delivered, households were the main consumers of water produced by municipal waterworks in 2008. The remaining water was delivered to the food industry (6 per cent), other industries (12 per cent), the agriculture sector and other consumers (8 per cent).