Östersund, safety review of Minnesgärdet Water Treatment Plant

In November 2010, a large number of subscribers in Östersund were struck by gastroenteritis caused by the parasite cryptosporidium.

The outbreak of gastroenteritis in Östersund, at that time the largest epidemic of waterborne disease recorded in Sweden, was caused by the parasite cryptosporidium.

After this waterborne epidemic, Östersund Vatten decided to carry out a review of drinking water production at the Minnesgärdet Waterworks. Our hydrologists were entrusted with carrying out this task, which covered untreated water and water treatment processes. Untreated water was evaluated, possible sources of contamination identified and existing water treatment processes were evaluated using the model tools Optimal Disinfection Praxis (ODP) and Microbiological Risk Analysis (MRA). The assignment resulted in proposals for short and long-term measures to further secure drinking water production.