• From 2023, this unit will receive treated wastewater from the Sables d'Olonne wastewater treatment plant.

  • A program that will provide “very high quality” water to the department, rather than discharging it into the ocean.

It is a “pioneering” project for the use of treated wastewater for domestic purposes.

The first stone of the future refining unit of the Jourdain program was laid on Wednesday in Les Sables-d'Olonne (Vendée).

From 2023, this unit will receive treated wastewater from the Sables d'Olonne wastewater treatment plant, currently discharged into the ocean after treatment.

A five-step treatment process will remove pesticides, pharmaceutical compounds and other micro-pollutants, and will provide “very high quality” water to the department.

The overall project reaches 22 million euros financed by public aid, in particular from the Loire-Brittany water agency, the region and the department.

In France, less than 1% of wastewater is now recycled

"The fragility of the department's water resources is accentuated in dry years, such as 2022. This program should make it possible to respond to tensions over the availability of our resources", explained Jacky Dallet, president of the Vendée food union. Water.

The Vendée today depends on 90% of surface water stored in reservoirs, which are very sensitive to climate change.

“In the next 20 to 25 years, the flow of French rivers will drop by 20% to 40% on average.

It is more than ever necessary to take care of water and to go further in protecting the resource”, recalled Pierre Ribaute, Managing Director of Veolia Water France, which builds and operates the refining unit.

In France, less than 1% of wastewater is recycled today, compared to 15% in Spain and 90% in Israel, indicates Veolia.

This "pilot" project could allow France to "start to catch up", added Pierre Ribaute.

An experimental stage until 2027

After passing through the Jourdain program treatment unit, the water will be routed over 25 km of pipeline to the Jaunay dam, discharged into a vegetated area where it will mix with the river and transit to the water plant. drinking water supplying the west of Vendée, i.e. 100,000 households and two to three times more in summer.

The unit could see its capacity increase at the end of the experimental stage, which will end in 2027.

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  • Recycling