In France, between 50% and 75% of the surface and subterranean water supplies are severely degraded. Their ecological restoration depends on an improved understanding of the pollutants affecting them.
Taking on the challenge together
The EU Water Framework Directive (2000) seeks to bring a united vision to European water management policy and establish a European body for the protection of groundwater, subterranean aquifers and coastal waters. The memorandum commits each member state to the ecological restoration of water supplies by 2015. To meet this goal, SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT and Cemagref (a research institute for agricultural and environmental engineering) agreed to establish a 3-year research partnership in April 2007. The objective of this partnership is to better understand the role of water purification plants in the preservation of the environment, in particular in managing water drainage basins.
A strong public-private partnership
To this new partnership:
- SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT brings its applied research experience and access to the purification plants it manages,
- Cemagref brings its expertise in research techniques and experimentation.
Cemagref is a public research body that specialises in water and land management. It aims at producing new knowledge and innovative techniques used by managers, decision-makers and businesses. Its objective is to respond to society’s questions relating to the management and allocation of resources and the use of natural spaces.
Cemagref’s scientific cooperation with SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT is structured around a series of research programmes. The AMPERES programme, for example, aims to identify harmful substances (pesticides, metals, solvents and detergents) present in urban waste water. A secondary goal of the programme is to identify the most effective existing treatments to clean up these substances.
Pesticides, drug , hydrocarbons and heavy metals are all substances found in very small quantities in rivers, but their effects are no less present in the environment. Today, a certain number of so-called «priority» substances have now been identified and must be suitably processed in wastewater treatment stations no later than 2015 within the European framework directive.
Presse release Ampères
Presse kit Ampères
In french only
