Since June 28, 2024, the Haliotis station has been using wastewater and treated water to water parks in Nice. The green spaces in the west of the city, the cleaning of municipal roads and the hydrocleaning of networks are concerned.
It’s the biggest project industrial in sanitation of France. After nearly 700 million euros financed by the territory, the city of Nice with the Haliotis station uses the wastewater and treated water to water parks and clean roads. This reuse of treated wastewater (REUT) follows the decree ofElisabeth Borne in 2023.
Safe water
The used and treated waste water does not pose any danger even if it is not not drinkable. Several steps are necessary to treat the water, although already treated by the plant, in order to be able to reuse it. First, a filtration in three parts is carried out. Then, there is an ultrafiltration which recovers all the bacteria and some of the viruses. An ultraviolet treatment guarantees the destruction of all the virus residuals. And finally, a purification. In total, there are forty-two different parameters for analyzing reused wastewater. “Ten in bacteriology, twelve in physicochemistry, seven in virology and thirteen on micropollutants” explains Hervé Paul, President of the Water and Sanitation Authority of the Nice Côte d’Azur Metropolitan Area.
Since last year, no less than 10 500 analyses have been carried out to ensure that this water is of excellent quality. In Nice, there are two water networks: the drinking water supply network and the raw water supply network. But at no time do the two networks mix.
A larger project
With this European standard A project, no less than 10 m3 per hour of usable water is produced. Christian Estrosi therefore recalls theeconomy long-term natural resources that this project will have. Starting June 28, 2024, trucks will use waste and treated water to water trees and clean the streets in the west of the city. The mayor assures us “In 2 to 3 years, the entire city of Nice will be running on this treated wastewater.“. From the start of the school year in September, this system will water the entire Parc Phoenix.
The city was losing a lot of water due to leaks, due to the poor condition of the pipes. Since the arrival of the Water and Sanitation Authority of the Nice Côte d’Azur Metropolis, an agreement with the Water Agency has been signed so that by 2026-2027, Nice will be a metropolis zero leaks of water. With the modernization of the Haliotis 2 station, direct reuse of wastewater will be put into service by the end of 2028 to save 5 million m3 of water per year.
