Each municipality decides
The new wastewater system MAXIMA will have the capacity to treat wastewater from almost 700 000 people. It is a huge instrastructure investment, built to meet the population growth for a long time to come. Decisions to build a regional solution for our future wastewater treatment are made both within VA SYD and in each municipal council.
VA SYD is an association of municipalities that is the authority responsible for water supply and wastewater operations and the owner of the public plants in the member municipalities of Burlöv, Eslöv, Lomma, Lund and Malmö. This means that the municipalities have handed over responsibility for water, wastewater and wastewater treatment plants to us.
With this responsibility, we at VA SYD have the opportunity to use our combined expertise and ability to not only think of solutions within each municipality, but also ensure that we create solutions that benefit the community, the region and the environment.
A regional wastewater treatment system for the municipalities of Burlöv, Lomma, Lund and Malmö is one such comprehensive solution. The Sjölunda wastewater treatment plant will also, as before, treat wastewater from Hjärup in Staffanstorp municipality and Bara and Klågerup in Svedala municipality.
Local influence through owner committees
VA SYD’s association council is its highest political body. The association board is responsible for day-to-day operations, and the five owner committees, one for each member municipality, are responsible for maintaining local influence in the association’s activities. The programme management team meets them regularly to answer questions and to report on the status of current studies. Read more about VA SYD’s political organisation here.
Regional cooperation groups
As the new wastewater treatment system affects the whole region, good cooperation across municipal boundaries is required. Consequently, various working groups have been formed in which VA SYD, with civil servants from all member municipalities, meet regularly with the aim of recording views on the comprehensive solution.
Ongoing decision phase
The next step is to obtain a permit under the Environmental Code (1998:808) and the Continental Shelf Act (1966:314).
Previous major decisions
2024
On the 18th of June, VA SYD's association council made an owners decision to invest, with a framework budget for the MAXIMA wastewater treatment system.
During the month of May, the respective municipal councils in Burlöv, Lomma, Lund and Malmö approved the investment agreement for MAXIMA.
VA SYD’s association council made a policy decision on the 26th of January that MAXIMA should plan for a wastewater tunnel to connect the municipalities north of the Sjölunda wastewater treatment plant. Furthermore, their policy decision included that the capacity of the new Sjölunda wastewater treatment is 820 000 population equivalents with a maximum flow of 10 m³/s.
2023
On the 25th of October, Lund's municipal council decided that the wastewater, which today is treatet at the Källby wastewater treatment plant, instead should be a part of MAXIMA and hence treated at the new Sjölunda wastewater treatment plant.
2022
In autumn 2022, the municipal executive committees in Burlöv, Lomma, Malmö and Svedala decided that VA SYD would prepare documentation and apply for a permit under the Environmental Code (1998:808) and the Continental Shelf Act (1966:314).
On 31 March, Lund Municipal Council decided to abandon plans for a shared wastewater treatment system, and instead commission VA SYD to expand and modernise Källby wastewater treatment plant in Lund. The decision meant that there would be no wastewater tunnel from Lund to the Sjölunda wastewater treatment plant in Malmö. This allowed VA SYD to plan and calculate a new scope for the MAXIMA wastewater treatment system.
2021
During the winter and spring, the municipalities of Burlöv, Lomma, Lund, Malmö and Svedala made a policy decision to continue participating in the planning of a regional wastewater treatment system. The municipalities also provided population forecasts up to 2045 to ensure that the new wastewater treatment system was properly dimensioned.
2019
The City of Malmö made a policy decision to build a wastewater tunnel beneath Malmö to the Sjölunda wastewater treatment plant.
2017
A programorganisation is established. Local studies are brought together into a regional strategy for wastewater treatment, which today has become the wastewater system MAXIMA.
2016
Lund Municipality made a policy decision to allow VA SYD to study a solution for the transfer of wastewater from Lund to Malmö and a new wastewater treatment plant at Sjölunda (which then meant the closure of Källby wastewater treatment plant).
