Water Europe

Expertise throughout the entire water cycle

The extensive expertise SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT has developed over the years enables it to manage the entire water cycle on behalf of its customers:

• Catchment
• Production of drinking water
• Distribution of drinking water
• Collection and treatment of municipal and industrial water
• Biological and energy recovery of treated sludge

To perform its role successfully and strengthen its presence in Europe and abroad, SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT draws on the complementary expertise of its subsidiaries specialising in water management. These include  Lyonnaise des Eaux in France, Agbar in Spain, Eurawasser in Germany, Nuove Acque in Italy, United Water in the United States, Ondeo IS for industrial water treatment, and SAFEGE for designing sustainable construction solutions.

Protecting water resources to improve environmental performance

SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT operations are part of a sustainable growth approach that respects people and nature. The Group helps its customers to pursue their environmental performance goals in order to promote intelligent management of water resources. It is committed to providing them with a variety of cutting-edge offers to meet their needs

• The new Degrés Bleus technology implemented in Levallois-Perret (Paris region) helps conserve resources while recovering energy from wastewater to heat buildings.
• In Spain, Agbar has developed an advanced technology that makes it possible to reuse 21% of water treated in over a hundred of its water treatment plants.
• Over 50% of sludge produced during wastewater treatment is reused agriculturally as compost.
• Ultrafiltration membranes, notably developed by Degrémont, provide high-quality water with moderate energy consumption.
• GEN-SPOT, the new rapid method introduced by Lyonnaise des Eaux, makes it possible to obtain bathing water analysis results in 3 hours, as opposed to 36 hours using the official method.

The distribution of “intelligent networks” in network industries has profoundly changed the organization and type of services the Group offers customers. They currently enable it to:

• address water shortage problems,
• detect and reduce leaks,
• control water demand and quality in real time.

SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT is therefore able to provide users with services that help them monitor and control their consumption.

Progress through dialog

SUEZ ENVIRONNEMENT develops its expertise through partnerships between subsidiaries, external experts and consumers. Group subsidiaries make every effort to increase public interest in water issues.

For example, in 2010, Lyonnaise des Eaux launched a unique initiative called “New ideas about water”. By opening up an interactive online platform, the company brought more than 100,000 people together to discuss water-related topics. The discussions about new water ideas among experts, elected representatives, association representatives and the general public ultimately prompted the creation of the Cahiers de l’eau. These documents provide a list of proposals for improving water management. They were subsequently issued to the elected representatives and associations that participated in the forum.