In Sweden there are about 750 000 house holds that have on-site sewage systems (OSS). Approximately 40-60% of these are not approved by todays standards. The OSS releases every year large amounts of nutrients that contribute to eutrophication of the marine environment and emissions also contributes to an increased risk of the spread of infectious agents. Municipalities have a central role to ensure that the OSS’s are living up to both national and regional environmental objectives. Today there are no legal requirements on how municipalities should ensure that the OSS’s complies with current regulations. Each municipality is responsible to adapt their work to the requirements of the Environmental Code. This study examines how ten Swedish municipalities are working with OSS and what the differences are in their approach to this problem. The study presents what is needed for a sustainable upgrade or replacement rate for OSS’s. The study is divided into two parts , the first part summarizes the guidance for municipalities to inspect the OSS and that is available from the govermental agencies and which was considered to be relevant to this study. In the second part , ten Swedish municipalities were interviewed , using so -called semi-structured interviews. The conclusion is that if municipalities are to achieve a sustainable upgrade or replacement rate, more guidance materials on how municipalities should evaluate old facilities are required. More stricter guidelines are also needed to enforce political decisions in order to allocate more resources for the continuing work of OSS but also by setting clearer objectives with which municipalities are enforced to comply.

Östersjön omfattas av en stor mångfald marina ekosystemtjänster som livnär närliggande samhällen. Deras funktion är hotad av en mängd terrestra och akvatiska aktiviteter som har förorenat havet, vilket kräver en långsiktig hållbar förvaltning. Syftet med denna uppsats är att bidra med kunskap om och förstå utmaningar och möjligheter i att uppnå en god ekologisk status i Östersjön. Studien baseras på en granskning av förvaltningsmetoder hos länsstyrelser och kommuner i två områden som är skyddade av den regionala överenskommelsen Helsingforskonventionen; Höga Kusten i Västernorrland och S:t Anna-Missjö i Östergötland. Till grund för det analytiska ramverket ligger Havs- och vattenmyndighetens rapport, som beskriver ekosystemtjänster som Östersjön bidrar med, samt även tjänsternas status, åtgärder och utmaningar som uppstår vid förvaltning. Resultatet baseras på kvalitativa metoder för att samla in data, genom att specifikt studera dokument samt intervjuer med lokala tjänstemän. Den insamlade empirin har blivit kategoriserad och analyserad i linje med Havs- och vattenmyndighetens rapport, därefter har innehållet diskuterats. Resultatet visar att mest fokus lades på hantering av övergödning, ohållbart fiske och reglering av föroreningar, samt deras trade-off- och synergieffekter som påverkar förvaltningen av just dessa ekosystemtjänster. Följaktligen, är det nödvändigt för tjänstemän att samverka med lokalbefolkningen för att uppnå en hållbar förvaltning av de skyddade områdena och deras ekosystemtjänster. Generella utmaningar ansågs vara tid, resurser och kunskap för förvaltning av marina miljöer. Dock genomsyrar myndighetens ramverk om ekosystemtjänster stora delar av länsstyrelserna och kommunernas arbete med marin förvaltning på Höga Kusten och S:t Anna-Missjö. Ekosystemtjänsternas status och funktioner är integrerade i länens och kommunernas förvaltningsmetoder av de skyddade områdena. Ekosystemtjänster som begrepp är däremot frånvarande och inte explicit nämnt i arbetet. / The Baltic Sea offers a diversity of marine ecosystem services which is providing support to nearby human communities. Their functions are jeopardized by terrestrial and aquatic activities which have heavily polluted the sea, necessitating long-term sustainable management. The aim of this bachelor thesis is to provide a scientific contribution to understanding the challenges and opportunities for reaching a good ecological status in the Baltic Sea, as well as insight into the ongoing management practices of Swedish county administrative boards and municipalities. Practices that involve conserving ecosystem services in two different marine protected areas the High Coast and St. Anna-Missjö, both of which have been designated important by a regional convention; the Helsinki Commission. Therefore, the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management has adopted a report on which ecosystem services the Baltic Sea provides, and the status of the services in different parts of the sea. This study is based on qualitative methods to gather data by a thorough reading of documents written by the counties and semi-structured interviews of local officials. The data has summarily been categorised and analysed in line with the national agency’s report, then discussed afterwards. The results show that the management practices were heavily emphasised on dealing with activities that lead to eutrophication, unsustainable fishery as well as regulation of polluting substances; where trade-offs and synergy-effects converge that impacts the management of other marine ecosystem services. Hence, it is necessary for officials to network with locals to have sustainable management of the protected areas and their ecosystem services. The officials pointed to the presence of a lack of time, resources and expertise in managing marine environments. Although the agency’s perspective on marine ecosystem services permeates large parts of county administrative boards and municipalities' work with marine management in the High Coast and St. Anna-Missjö. The status and functions of ecosystem services are integrated in their management practices of the protected areas. However, the concepts themselves are more absent and not mentioned explicitly.