France to release plans for facilitating wastewater use nationwide
The French government has announced that plans for facilitating the reuse of wastewater, to help reduce water consumption amid drought, will be released in the coming days.
France's environment minister, Christophe Béchu, announced on Thursday that the government would soon release plans to facilitate the reuse of wastewater across the country, in an effort to reduce water consumption during drought periods.
Just one percent of wastewater is reused in France - in comparison to neighbouring Spain which reuses 14 percent of its water - and the target is to increase that to 10 percent.
Béchu told French media RTL that the full plans will be published "before August 31st".
The minister said that a decree would be passed, allowing authorities to authorise the reuse of wastewater "in all cases, except those involving food processing".
He explained that the plans could be delayed, as it would be necessary to go over the cases where wastewater would be most likely to come in contact with humans.
The goal is reused wastewater to be involved "in everything to do with green spaces, street cleaning, and industrial uses", adding that "200 wastewater reuse facilities will be created once the decree is signed".
Certain parts of France have already begun taking advantage of their extra wastewater.
In Cannes, wastwater is treated at a nearby plant, where it is disinfected to remove viruses and bacteria. The city has begun allowing people to use the water for keeping plants hydrated. One gardener told TF1 that "every year the drought gets worse. If it can help save drinking water, it's always better".
The wastewater in Cannes is also used to help clean 25km of roads per day, which helps in total to save at least 43 cubic metres of drinking water daily, according to TF1.
Nevertheless, only a small portion of the city's wastewater is used - just three percent. Much of it is still sent back into the Mediterranean.
In comparison to its neighbour Spain, which reuses 14 percent of its water, as of 2023 about one percent of water in France was reused. According to reporting by RTL, France hopes to increase its wastewater usage tenfold - with the goal of reusing 10 percent of its water by 2030.
Part of the reason that wastewater is not commonly reused in France has to do with some of the regulations surrounding it, which could become loosened thanks to the upcoming ministerial decree.
Currently, local authorities must apply with the Regional Health Agency (ARS) before treating and using the wastewater for watering plants and green spaces. Additionally, industrial companies were only able to reuse water for a maximum of five years.
The new decree is expected to make such regulations more flexible, including allowing companies to go beyond this limit, which will give more time to adapt instruments for reusing wastewater.
Drought warnings
As of August 10th, more than 66 percent of France's water tables were below average levels for the season, according to Franceinfo.
Several départements had water restrictions in place at the end of August, despite the northern half of the country having received heavy rains during July.
Climate experts expect that drought will become common as temperatures rise, and in response the French government announced a campaign to decrease water consumption in the late spring.
Comments
See Also
France's environment minister, Christophe Béchu, announced on Thursday that the government would soon release plans to facilitate the reuse of wastewater across the country, in an effort to reduce water consumption during drought periods.
Just one percent of wastewater is reused in France - in comparison to neighbouring Spain which reuses 14 percent of its water - and the target is to increase that to 10 percent.
Béchu told French media RTL that the full plans will be published "before August 31st".
The minister said that a decree would be passed, allowing authorities to authorise the reuse of wastewater "in all cases, except those involving food processing".
He explained that the plans could be delayed, as it would be necessary to go over the cases where wastewater would be most likely to come in contact with humans.
The goal is reused wastewater to be involved "in everything to do with green spaces, street cleaning, and industrial uses", adding that "200 wastewater reuse facilities will be created once the decree is signed".
Certain parts of France have already begun taking advantage of their extra wastewater.
In Cannes, wastwater is treated at a nearby plant, where it is disinfected to remove viruses and bacteria. The city has begun allowing people to use the water for keeping plants hydrated. One gardener told TF1 that "every year the drought gets worse. If it can help save drinking water, it's always better".
The wastewater in Cannes is also used to help clean 25km of roads per day, which helps in total to save at least 43 cubic metres of drinking water daily, according to TF1.
Nevertheless, only a small portion of the city's wastewater is used - just three percent. Much of it is still sent back into the Mediterranean.
In comparison to its neighbour Spain, which reuses 14 percent of its water, as of 2023 about one percent of water in France was reused. According to reporting by RTL, France hopes to increase its wastewater usage tenfold - with the goal of reusing 10 percent of its water by 2030.
Part of the reason that wastewater is not commonly reused in France has to do with some of the regulations surrounding it, which could become loosened thanks to the upcoming ministerial decree.
Currently, local authorities must apply with the Regional Health Agency (ARS) before treating and using the wastewater for watering plants and green spaces. Additionally, industrial companies were only able to reuse water for a maximum of five years.
The new decree is expected to make such regulations more flexible, including allowing companies to go beyond this limit, which will give more time to adapt instruments for reusing wastewater.
Drought warnings
As of August 10th, more than 66 percent of France's water tables were below average levels for the season, according to Franceinfo.
Several départements had water restrictions in place at the end of August, despite the northern half of the country having received heavy rains during July.
Climate experts expect that drought will become common as temperatures rise, and in response the French government announced a campaign to decrease water consumption in the late spring.
Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.