It was in connection with remediation work of the polluted former industrial environment in the Silver Mine in 2008, that a discovery was made.

- There were elevated levels of cadmium and arsenic in the drinking water among the property owners in the Silver Mine, says Mikael Pukkinen, community strategist in Hällefors municipality.

A more detailed study was carried out in 2012-2013 and the County Administrative Board subsequently submitted, with the support of the Public Water Services Act, that the municipality of Hällefors should designate an area of ​​activity so that the properties would have access to a municipal water supply facility.

Own filter systems

The municipality opposed the demands with reference to the fact that the residents could arrange their own water treatment and appealed to the then State VA Board, which later passed to the Land and Environment Court.

In parallel, several of the property owners, individually or together, invested in their own filter systems.

- We have been drinking this water for all these years and also the children, who are out and about.

It is clear that you are worried.

Arsenic is not good, says Anders Eriksson who has lived in the Silver Mine with his family since 1976.

He currently shares the same facility with six other households and they too have installed filters to purify the water.

Forced to make a decision

In 2016, the Land and Environment Court decided not to take up the appeal and recently the municipal board in Hällefors was therefore forced to make a decision on the area of ​​activity in the Silver Mine.

This means that the property owners individually, according to law, will be obliged to pay connection fees to the municipality - regardless of whether they join or not.

- It has not been planned yet and we do not know what technical solution it will be.

But a calculation made by Samhällsbyggnad Bergslagen shows between SEK 75,000 and 100,000 per property, says Mikael Pulkkinen.

Do not give up

For the villagers, the situation is currently uncertain and the matter will be taken up in the municipal council at the end of April, but they hope to somehow be able to pursue the matter further.

- We get bad information from the municipality.

It is through the media that we have found out about this.

If it is possible to appeal this decision, we will try, says Anders Eriksson.