VIDEO. Drinking toilet water, a solution for the future?

On September 8, 2023, 189 French municipalities were deprived of drinking water according to figures from the Ministry of Ecological Transition. To overcome this problem, several companies in France are working on sustainable solutions. This is the case of Vendée Eau which is developing a unique process in Europe, as part of the Jourdain program: recycling toilet water. Making wastewater drinkable requires respecting no less than three main cleaning steps in order to “remove suspended matter, such as organic matter, viruses, bacteria“, Then “to remove elements dissolved in water, such as drug residues, salt and even minerals” and finally “renature” water, describes Caroline Rautureau, employee of Vendée Eau.

“Today, we reuse 1% of treated wastewater in France”

Caroline Rautureau, employee of Vendée Eau, reassures: “Water, in France, is the most controlled food. There are tests carried out at the factory, but also on the network and then on the tap.” Because there is not yet a legal framework in France to repotabilize wastewater, the Jourdain plant will be in the test phase for a year, before the water reaches the taps of the Vendéens. If this solution works in the long term, it could bring the Vendée department “a quarter of the solution”. “By 2030, Vendée will be short 8 million cubic meters, which is the equivalent of the annual consumption of 220,000 inhabitants. Jourdain will provide 2 million from 2027, so it’s a quarter of the solution” says the Vendée Eau employee. She recalls the essential necessity of the project: “Today it is one of the areas where we can really make great efforts to have an additional resource”.