The drought is already here, well established. The Eure-et-Loir prefecture has introduced its first restrictions related to the use of water. Since Thursday June 8, it has been prohibited to water lawns, green spaces and vegetable gardens between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m., to wash roofs and facades, sidewalks or to fill or drain swimming pools and swimming pools. ‘water.
In Nogent-le-Rotrou (Eure-et-Loir), there is no question of suddenly stopping irrigation, a disastrous measure for biodiversity that many French municipalities were forced to take last summer, in the emergency of the heatwave. “Trees are essential for shade and thermal moderation in urban spaces. We also need to see these carbon sinks grow,” says Harold Huwart, the mayor (Radical Party) of this Perche commune of 10,000 inhabitants.
Treating water from the wastewater treatment plant with ultraviolet light
The municipality has found a solution for watering its parks, green spaces and its 6,000 trees. A water reserve was installed at the end of May, behind the Aquaval aquatic complex, at a cost of 15,000 euros. “It allows us to reuse 20% of the dechlorinated water from the swimming pool, which would have been discharged into the river,” he emphasizes.
The pools were drained shortly before the swimming pool opened at the end of May. The 500 m3 recovered during this operation will, according to him, “largely cover the needs of our 92 hectares of green spaces at the time of the restrictions”.
Other recovery solutions are being considered for the years to come. The wastewater treatment plants could be fitted with a filtration and ultraviolet treatment system for wastewater. “It is an investment of 200,000 euros which would meet the needs of construction companies, craftsmen and laundries and would generate a saving of 22,000 m3 per year,” assesses the councilor.
The benefit compared to the financial cost argues in favor of such equipment, which will have the merit of limiting the weight of the restrictions imposed on individuals.