Irrigation of fields with wastewater expected to develop, according to a decree

France wants to generalize the use of wastewater to irrigate its fields. A decree published Thursday, December 28 regulates the recycling, after treatment, of a resource which will become rarer with climate change. It prescribes measures intended to “guarantee the protection of public, human and animal health, and the environment”. The decree also specifies the level of health quality that must be achieved, depending on the crops (salads, vines, etc.), by this water from wastewater treatment plants, now massively released into the natural environment.

A decree of December 14 set a similar framework for watering green spaces. Another text is also awaited by the agri-food sector, which intends to reuse treated water in factory treatment plants. After the drought of 2022 and its procession of restrictions, the water plan presented in March by the government planned to lift in 2023 “regulatory obstacles to the valorization of unconventional water”.

According to the United Nations Environment Program, “only 11%” domestic and industrial wastewater is intentionally reused around the world. But there are large variations between countries: less than 1% in France, according to the environmental studies center Cerema, and at least 80% in Israel, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development ( OECD).