Svartediket is a lake in the city of

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula o ...

Vestland Vestland is a county in Norway established on 1 January 2020. The county is located in Western Norway and it is centred around the city of Bergen, Norway's second largest city. The administrative centre of the county is the city of Bergen, where t ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. The lake lies immediately north of the mountain

Ulriken Ulriken (or the older, ''Ålreken'') is the highest of the Seven Mountains, Bergen, Seven Mountains ( no, De syv fjell) that surround the city of Bergen, Norway. It has a height of above sea level. Ulriken has an aerial tramway, Ulriksbanen, that ...

, northeast of the Store Lungegårdsvannet bay. Historically, this lake was called ''Ålrekstadsvannet'', but in the late 19th century, a dam was built on the south end of the lake to create a reservoir for the city's drinking water. The lake is the main source of

drinking water Drinking water is water that is used in drink or food preparation; potable water is water that is safe to be used as drinking water. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, a ...

for the central parts of the city of Bergen. There is a pumping station and treatment facility build adjacent to the lake inside the mountain

. Drinking water is collected at a depth in Svartediket. Inside the water treatment plant, the water is filtered and irradiated with

UV light Ultraviolet (UV) is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelength from 10 nm (with a corresponding frequency around 30 PHz) to 400 nm (750 THz), shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays. UV radiation i ...

to kill harmful microorganisms. After treatment, the clean drinking water is stored in a large water pool inside the mountain. This is the water that is pumped down to the city center for drinking water. In 2004, Bergen was hit by a ''

Giardia lamblia ''Giardia duodenalis'', also known as ''Giardia intestinalis'' and ''Giardia lamblia'', is a flagellated parasitic microorganism of the genus '' Giardia'' that colonizes the small intestine, causing a diarrheal condition known as giardiasis. ...

epidemic An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of patients among a given population within an area in a short period of time. Epidemics of infectious ...

which had its source in the lake Svartediket. The water treatment facility was upgraded in 2007.

References

Geography of Bergen Lakes of Vestland Reservoirs in Norway {{Bergen-stub

See also

References