Presented last March, the new solidarity and environmental pricing of drinking water in the Lyon Metropolis comes into force this Wednesday, January 1.
There will be something new on your drinking water bill this Wednesday, January 1st. Two years after the resumption of public management of the production and distribution of drinking water, the Métropole de Lyon is implementing new pricing for Greater Lyon residents.
-15% consumption by 2035
As detailed last March by the environmentalist president of the community, Bruno Bernard, this new pricing aims to reduce drinking water consumption by 15% by 2035 in the Lyon metropolis. In order to achieve this result, the community sets up differentiated pricing between individuals and professionals. Individuals will now be offered 12m3 of drinking water each year, against the single rate per m3, regardless of consumption and type of user, established until now.
On paper, this figure of 12 m3, which corresponds to a consumption of 30 liters of water per day, would allow “a household of six people to drink and cook for 1 year”indicated the Metropolis of Lyon. In fact, these 12 m3, “calculated to cover vital needs”, will be exceeded by all households in the metropolis. Anne Grosperrin, president of the public water authority of Greater Lyon, admitted that “No one uses only 12 m3 per year, even a single person.” According to the Ecological Transition Agency, a shower of 1 to 3 minutes consumes on average 35 to 60 liters of water. 12 m3, or 12,000 liters, would not even be enough to take 350 showers in the year, not counting the water used for drinking or cooking.
Once these 12 m3 of water have been consumed within a household, the classic pricing, decided each year in June by the Métropole de Lyon, will be applied for everyone. But from January 1, a third tranche is established. This doubles the standard rate beyond 180 m3 of water consumed per year. According to the Métropole de Lyon, this volume of 180 m3 would correspond to the water consumption of a family of 6 to 7 people.
4 price bands for professionals
Concerning professionals, progressive pricing applies with 4 bands, “encouraging heavy consumers to be sober”. Tranche 1, from which 68% of professionals, such as traders, craftsmen and all small businesses now benefit, will be equivalent to the tranche “domestic water” individuals. In other words, classic fare.
Help for the most vulnerable
Another new feature on January 1st is the introduction of solidarity pricing for the most vulnerable users. To benefit from it, the calculation will be carried out using the composition and income of each household with the CAF. With this data, the Lyon Metropolis will then be able to determine if families spend more than 3% of their financial resources on their water budget.
The regulatory context and current legislation do not allow it to know the number of people behind each water meter, the Metropolis therefore based its calculation on average water consumption in France, which correspond to “regulated consumption” depending on the community. Thus, for a single person, the volume on which the calculation is based is 40 m3, for two people 70 m3, for 3 people 90 m3, for 4 people 110 m3 and so on. According to the Métropole de Lyon, between 100,000 and 120,000 households could benefit from this aid and the amount is estimated between 20 and 80 euros per household.
Read also: ZFE, water prices… What will change on January 1, 2025 in the metropolis of Lyon
