Partners in preserving water
In France, 50 to 75% of the bodies of subsoil and surface water are seriously degraded. To restore their good ecological status we need to know more about the pollutants affecting them. In reply to this issue, SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT and the Cemagref* have signed a three-year partnership agreement.
The EU Water Framework Directive of October 2000 was designed to provide an overall vision for the European policy of water management and establish a European framework for the protection of inland, underground and coastal waters. It urges each Member State to restore the good ecological status of their water bodies by 2015.
Public and private…
To face this challenge, SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT and the Cemagref have set up a research partnership to improve our knowledge about the role of sewage plants in safeguarding the environment, in particular as part of the management of catchment areas.
The Cemagref is a public research institute on water management and regional development. Its activities involve developing new knowledge and technical innovations for use by managers, decision-makers and companies. Its purpose is to provide solutions to tangible issues for society in the areas of resource management, regional development and land use. Scientific co-operation with SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT is structured around several research programs. The primary objective of the AMPERES programme, for example, is to identify the priority substances – pesticides, metals, solvents and detergents – present in urban wastewater. Secondly, the program will attempt to identify the most effective existing treatments in eliminating these substances.
… a reinforced cooperation
AWithin this new partnership, SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT provides its experience in industrial research and access to the sewage plants it manages; the Cemagref provides its know-how in fundamental research and experimentation. Proof that co-operation between fundamental public research and private companies is improving in France.
* Agricultural and environmental engineering research institute
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