“We had already had water problems, but I never saw it so early”, assures Romain. The young farmer knows what he is talking about since he lives in the apartment located above the town hall of La Rosière, in Haute-Saône where tap water has not flowed since mid-July. Blame it on a dry well. A visible problem in almost all the homes in the town of the region of 1000 ponds.
It must be said that the town has a small specificity, since it does not have a water network. Thus each dwelling obtains its water via its own source or its own well. “For 4-5 years, we have had some water problems, but this is because this summer, it still lasts today. It is also the first time that the town hall has no more water”says François Mange, the mayor of the town. “90% of homes face either a lack of water or a need to restrict consumption”he continues.
To live in La Rosière, you have to be resilient and like to fend for yourself
To face the problem, the inhabitants organize themselves. Romain has thus installed a cistern since July. “I’m going to bring water to people who need it. We’re in solidarity”explains the lucky young farmer, since he found springs on his land and pumps water, for him and others in the river. “It’s a bit of the D system here. And then we have a restaurant, an equestrian center and a goatherd in the town”adds the mayor. Here everyone is used to getting by. Thus, some fill bins, or collect rainwater.
Denis David, a resident of a hamlet in the town, has put up with it for 18 years. “For two months, my well has been dry. So we have a system of valves to switch to buried tanks of rainwater reserves. I installed a filtration system, a filter used by UNICEF in Africa which allows us to drink this water. I live quite calmly with that. We just pay attention. The recommendations that we see on TV make me laugh because we are always careful. To live in La Rosière, you have to be resilient and like to fend for yourself”smiles the resident.
– Virginia Vandeville
Solutions to be found
A situation which is all the same becoming more and more complicated with the increasing number of dry summers assures François Mange. The city councilor has had it in his head for some time to find solutions. And they are not many. Impossible for him to be attached to a water network of neighboring municipalities. “The town is located on several hectares. And then it’s not even sure that they have a sufficient quantity of water and then it costs too much”he laments.
“You can’t run out of water all year round, especially since in 2018, we had a number of springs that had dried up. This year, they’re not necessarily the same. So I made some estimate to carry out a common drilling between the town hall, the town hall apartment, the technical room and the two houses nearby.This would be a syndic system, which makes it possible to distribute the burden of maintenance, the costs of the electricity from the pump that will work. I hope this will set an example for other hamlets in the commune. who could make a borehole and thus supply several houses.”
But this at a cost, between 15 and 20,000 euros, specifies the mayor. “It’s a big budget, but if we don’t have a water supply, most certainly the town will eventually die.”