In the United States, the French giant Veolia is a champion of water recycling

2024-10-19 05:00:00

While blue gold is becoming increasingly rare across the planet, France is far behind in wastewater recycling. In California, infrastructures like the West Basin factory in Los Angeles are showing the way to optimize their reuse in different areas.

It is a silent and pernicious crisis. It is ecological, of course, but also economical. And it’s going smoothly. This crisis is the water crisis. One third of the world’s population lives in arid areas that suffer from water scarcity. A figure that rises to almost half of the planet for regions affected by drought at least once a year. A litany of data, one more alarming than the other, which can be summed up in a single sentence: water is becoming increasingly rare on the blue planet.

France is no stranger to the phenomenon. Since 2005, drought warnings have become increasingly frequent throughout the country – and not just in the South – leading to prefectural decrees that may concern surface waters (such as rivers), underground waters (groundwater) and even the network of drinking water. We can already hear skeptics of all stripes scolding: “But drought has always existed&nbsp