On the heights of the Puech 2 area, an arc-shaped building overlooks the eastern entrance to Baraqueville. It was designed by François Poux on behalf of the Syndicat Mixte des Eaux du Lévézou et du Ségala. (Smels). Indeed, since the beginning of 2024, it is here that the headquarters of this institution born in our town 60 years ago has been located. The advent of this building is not only intended to give a modern image of this union, it above all reflects a reorganization of its functioning.
Until 2021, this organization had delegated most of the services it must provide to companies, keeping only the institutional component within it. Taking advantage of the end of the contract which linked it to this company, the elected representatives of Smels questioned their organization and realized that it was more responsible to keep as much as possible in public control.
Consequently, the Union now assumes, as management, the management of water production at the Galat plant, subscriptions, invoicing, network mapping and everything that results from this… The only skills which are under-performed processed at Aveyronnaise des Eaux concern the reading of meters and the operation of the network (detection and repair of leaks, new connections).
To take on these new operations, Smels had to equip itself with adequate premises: a total of 16 people work there compared to 4 previously (8 administrative agents and 8 technical agents spread over the two sites of Baraqueville and Trémouilles at the factory production of drinking water). This organization serves 30,000 subscribers and 82 municipalities and supports the neighboring unions of Montbazens and Rodez during low water periods.
This network is constantly growing: as proof, it only had 36 municipalities when it was created in 1964 but since then, water has flowed under the bridges, or rather… in the pipes.
