The elected officials of Douarnenez Community know that the measure risks being difficult to digest within the population as the end-of-year holidays approach: meeting in community council this Thursday, December 5, 2024, they validated a new pricing water and sanitation for the year 2025. This is based on three main principles. Simplification, first of all, since the number of pricing bands has been reduced on the variable part of drinking water and collective sanitation. Harmonization, then: an almost absolute alignment of prices was decided in the five municipalities of the community, where large price differences existed in the past, mainly for the benefit of the inhabitants of the central city, Douarnenez. Last principle, the most sensitive, an increase in the fixed part.
Thus, the standard annual subscription to the water service will cost €80 everywhere in the territory*. For the inhabitants of Douarnenez, who paid €62 for this subscription in 2024, the increase is 29%. On the other hand, they will always pay a little less than elsewhere for the sanitation subscription (€50 compared to €65). “We did not want to increase the subscription of Douarnenists to collective sanitation from €35 to €65 all at once, the increase was too significant,” indicated Henri Savina, vice-president for water and sanitation.
“Either that or we close the door”
The latter fully assumed this new price list, working in conjunction with two specialized research firms. He recalled the many challenges and investments looming in the region in terms of drinking water production (provided under management) and wastewater treatment: renewal of networks, securing the water supply, heavy construction work. infrastructure, all in a context where household and business consumption, the main source of revenue, has been trending downward since the drought of 2022. “We cannot do otherwise. It's either that or we go out of business,” he indicated during a press briefing organized in advance with François Guet, community advisor and president of Spic water and sanitation. The two men also announced the establishment of social pricing on the first tranche of the variable portion, which concerns the smallest consumers (from 0 to 10 m²): the m3 of water will cost 1.25 € compared to 1 .8 € in 2024. “We also want to set up a water voucher, the terms of which remain to be defined, in order to guarantee access to quality water for the poorest,” they indicated.
“If we strangled them, they would leave”
Voted unanimously, the deliberation still sparked debate: a few elected officials, Ollivier Delbot and Katell Chantreau in particular, criticized a bonus to manufacturers on the variable part of collective sanitation. The price per m3 will be €3.2 between 1,000 and 10,000 m3 and €2 above 10,000 m3, compared to €3.5 from 101 to 1,000 m3. Remarks contested by Henri Savina and Jocelyne Poitevin, president of Douarnenez Communauté: “These manufacturers, in particular Chancerelle and Petit Navire, must apply a heavy pollution coefficient to their invoice. And they have made great efforts to reduce the impact of their effluent. If we strangled them, these businesses would leave and the jobs with them.”
*Member of the northern water union of Cap-Sizun, Poullan-sur-Mer is supplied with drinking water by Saur and is not affected by these prices.
