Bio-UV Group, this industrial flagship that preserves blue gold

Laurent-Emmanuel Migeon, CEO of Bio-UV Group, one of the world leaders in the field of water disinfection, looks ahead twenty years.

Having such an industrial flagship on the territory of the municipality is a major asset for the city of Lunel. Bio-UV Group which is celebrating its 25 candles this year, became known for its expertise in water treatment using UV. Strong of 160 employees distributed over three production sitesBio-UV Group recorded a turnover of 43 million euros last year. Listed on the stock exchange since 2018, the company cultivates CSR firmly in its heart regarding the use of water, this blue gold of which humanity is gradually becoming aware of the rarity.

At the pointe of CSR

“Beyond providing access to quality water by disinfecting it, the way we work matters a lot,” begins the CEO. As evidence and ISO 26,000 label attesting to the group’s sustainable development initiatives. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is not limited to a three-letter acronym, but results in a reduction in the carbon footprint of the group of companies. “5% each year”a CSR committee or a cutting-edge green mobility plan.

So why treat water with UV?

Awareness is gaining ground with regard to harmful effects of chlorine in contact with micro-organisms, in a swimming pool for example. On contact with hair or sweat, chlorine generates chloraminesa by-product, which can cause skin reactions or the famous “red eyes”. Hence the importance of going through the shower area when leaving a municipal swimming pool. “Historically, chlorine remains the primary means of disinfection in the world to eradicate the majority of viruses. It is the most powerful, the most accessible and… the least expensive”list Isabelle Sost, marketing director of Bio-UV Group.

Water disinfection by ultraviolet (UV-C) is, in this sense, not an extremely strong disinfectant, and above all free of chemicals. The sun emits light invisible to the human eye (ultraviolet) which is largely absorbed by the Earth’s ozone layer. The uniqueness of UV light is its wavelength range between 200 and 300 nanometers (UV-C) which are germicidesthat is to say that they have the ability to deactivate micro-organisms such as viruses, bacteria, algae, mold, etc. including Legionella. “The water passes through a reactor contained in a technical room of the swimming pool, a kind of stainless steel or PVC tube. Once the water has passed in front of the light radiation, the micro-organisms are eradicated”, vulgarise Isabelle Sub.

Which markets?

The core business of Bio Uv Group? Water called “leisure” (50% of turnover) including private and public swimming pools, those of hotels, campsites or even aquarium water. The group has equipped the largest aquariums in the world: London, Singapore and SeaWorld Abu Dhabi. “We have just signed with Mexico. We also equipped the green spaces surrounding the football stadiums during the World Cup in Qatar”tells us Isabelle Sost. Bio-Uv group also operates in the market of ballast water treatment (30% of turnover). A ballast is a large capacity water tank intended to be filled or drained with seawater in order to balance a ship. When ballast water is pumped into a ship, microorganisms are discharged into the ballast tanks. Many of these organisms can survive in these tanks and when the ballast water is discharged, the organisms are released into new environments. Under favorable conditions, these species survive, reproduce and become marine invasive species. The last market accounting for 20% of the group’s turnover, the treatment of so-called water municipal and industrial. Hear the waters in wastewater treatment plants and in collection for drinking water, but also those used in industrial processes.

France, this bad student of water reuse

As for the reuse of water in France, « we are very bad studentsto the tune of not even 1%, when Spain is at 14% and Israel at 95%”regrets Isabelle Sost. Why this carelessness? “My analysis is that we are rather on a territory blessed by the Gods regarding water, except the Pyrénées-Orientales and Aude. Overall, France is not in an emergency situation”comments the CEO, having previously managed a wine company in Aude and having long been confronted with the issue of water. Another explanation, “the large operators have developed their technology more abroad rather than here, to a question of business model ». Third factor, the price of water a little lower in France “encourages a little less to reuse it. When the price increases, people will be more aware of the issue of reuse”judges the CEO.

Bio-UV and REUSE, it’s been going on for 20 years

The Water Plan initiated by the president in 2022, with the objective of passing from 1% to 10% of water reuse by 2030, is struggling. Bio-UV Group is not waiting idly and has been operating in the REUSE for twenty years. “We have been doing it for years in the Maghreb, for example. Then in a wastewater treatment plant in Narbonne to irrigate twenty hectares of vines. We showed that our UV worked well,” rejoices Laurent-Emmanuel Migeon. With Bio-UV Group systems at the outlet of wastewater treatment plants, up to 700m3 per hour are treated to irrigate the roads, water a football stadium, clean the pipes… “In Reuse, in 2024, we have marketed 35 systems in different cities, the sum of all this corresponds half the consumption of a city like Montpelliis »underlines the CEO.

In 20 years?

“We will end up with very hot and dry phenomena, then torrential rains and even more intense Cévennes episodes in the south, but also on the national territory”, imagine Laurent-Emmanuel Migeon in 20 years. The latter sees in the development of analysis software and evolution of the weather situation a lifeline“to anticipate the prefect’s decrees and manage its production”, he explains. Above all, the water risks changing in discriminating element, “the more we consume, the more we will pay”, imagine our interlocutor. As for the conflict of use, it will be “to provide a regulatory authority for uses and prioritization in a given basin”, recommends the CEO according to whom the State must “set the rules”.