Gotland

SWEDEN

Circular solutions for :

In recent years, the island of Gotland has experienced a severe water crisis, negatively affecting tourism and small- scale industries. Water shortages hinder economic development due to strict regulations for building of new houses and the start-up of new business that consume water.

A national funded testbed (2M€ investment + 1,5M€ for evaluation) in the water sector is currently under development in southern Gotland. It consists of an integrated system based on small scale methods like rainwater harvesting from drainage ditches, automatic hatches in large ditches and artificial surface water dams, artificial infiltration for groundwater,
construction of groundwater dams for subsurface water storage, wastewater reuse and climate neutral desalination based on solar energy.
An important and critical part of the testbed project is communication and engagement activities with local stakeholders such as farmers and citizens.

Relevant Data

1000  ha
Area of Storsudret
1
Full year residents
1
Summer residents
1 .000 m3/year
Consumption of water
1
Cattles on Storsudret

Demo site:

Gotland

Relevant sectors

Key innovations & actions

  • Rainwater harvesting using automatic floodgates to replenish aquifers and monitoring of aquifer levels
  • Decentralised membrane treatment of raw wastewater for reuse to reduce volumes treated at the central WWTP
  • Climate neutral desalination powered by solar energy to overcome the carbon footprint drawbacks

Lead partners