2023-07-22 13:00:00
Direct access to the sea, four swimming pools including a balneotherapy course for adults and an aquatic games park… Water is an asset at Les Sablons, a five-star campsite in Portiragnes, south-east of Béziers. He is one of the players in the department of Hérault, the leader in outdoor accommodation in France, has begun to change its model to save water.
Fed by two boreholes in a water table 130 meters underground, the Astien water table, the 25-hectare site has already reduced its water consumption by 20%. “And this, with an increase in activity, an additional swimming pool and 1,500 square meters cultivated in permaculture”, specifies its director. Anxious “to give meaning to a leisure activity in a context of resources under tension”, Olivier Caron wishes to be as transparent as possible: “from 125,000 cubic meters in 2017, we have gone to 103,000 cubic meters in 2021”, he declares.
READ ALSOWater management: how to adapt to climate changeThe result of relentless detection against leaks, on a forty-year-old network thanks to thirty-seven sensors placed on the swimming pool, sanitary and water tower networks, by a remote reading specialist based in Montpellier, the company Osmozis. The campsite also recovers its swimming pool water for watering green spaces, by controlled drip, on the model of the neighboring mastodon, the Sérignan Plage, which has been using it since the 1960s.
One million euros invested over six years
To reach 83,000 cubic meters consumed per year, the director of Les Sablons has planned an investment of 1 million euros over six years. Even if the objectives set by the Smeta (Syndicat mixte d’études et de travaux de l’Astien), which has a central role in the management of water in the territory, have not been achieved this year, this proactive management is beginning to infuse the world of outdoor accommodation.
“The sector is a few years ahead on the subject, believes Philippe Robert, regional representative of the Federation of outdoor hotels, because many campsites are located on the Astien groundwater, classified as a water distribution zone (ZRE) by interprefectural decree of 2010. Constrained by quotas for withdrawals, they are multiplying initiatives. » Pressure reducers in the showers, economical toilet flushes and drip irrigation systems are beginning to make their mark in the majority of coastal establishments.
READ ALSOWastewater treatment: the Spanish exampleVéronique Dubois, director of Smeta, remains more nuanced: “Camping sites are not as good students as the communities which have succeeded, by fighting against leaks from pipes and doubling their water access network, not to exceed the annual volume of authorized withdrawal. The fault with the belief of a free and inexhaustible resource, because, on the littoral, the pressure makes it possible to reach the water of the sheet at low depth. “But it’s an illusion, warns Véronique Dubois. North of the highway, just 15 kilometers away, levels are historically low. We note the dewatering of pumps, dry wells… which also require recharging in the Astian aquifer. »
Accelerate movement
The campsites, the first water samplers in summer, will have to accelerate the movement. As part of the renewal of the withdrawal authorization from the DDTM (Departmental Directorate of Territories and the Sea), they have three years to carry out water saving operations: equipping customer meters at the most consuming points, i.e. swimming pools, green spaces and toilets, the obligation to search for leaks, in particular in basins, and work on green spaces, with the choice of Mediterranean species instead of lawns, and the management of irrigation.
“They benefit from support, because they are operators, not managers,” recalls Véronique Dubois, who mentions the delays and administrative obstacles in obtaining subsidies, mainly for small family businesses. Not to mention the blockages of the regional water agencies concerning the reuse of water. Pending authorization for an experiment for the reuse of gray water treated in the toilets in five or six campsites, the director of Smeta regrets the delay in France on the subject.
With a water use restriction defined by the prefecture for each municipality, each coming week is a source of anxiety for a department ranked in the top 2 for French customers, and in the top 5 for all customers combined. An issue announced as a priority since 2022 by the departmental council. In its plan for sustainable and responsible tourism and leisure, it provides engineering support for sobriety initiatives. The Green Key label thus offers diagnostic assistance for campsites. “In any case, in the relatively short term, with 10 million camping nights recorded in 2022, they will have no choice, summarizes Jean-François Pouget, deputy general manager of Hérault tourism. It is: die or live. In addition to education to encourage customers to be more sober, the department’s marketing strategy is changing completely. “We will position ourselves from the start of the off-season, when the water pressure is lower,” he adds.
The Reut, still too little used in France
On the banks of the Etang de Thau, with more than 40,000 spa visitors per year, and 1.5 million overnight stays on the clock, another tourism heavyweight has taken the lead. Since 2017, the thermal baths of Balaruc-les-Bains have been recycling the rinsing water from its treatments. “Natural mud, with therapeutic properties, is recycled and reused using a low-energy technique. The UV-treated water goes back into the pipes for road cleaning or watering,” explains the general manager of the establishment. The first spa resort in France, which is renovating its buildings and planning a new hotel in 2026, is planning a more water-efficient laundry, as well as a cooling system for the establishment using recycled water. READ ALSO The Etang de Thau, fragile sanctuary of an astonishing marine molluskThe municipality of La Grande-Motte has also chosen to install a UV treatment system to water its 90-hectare golf course. While the greens are singled out for their consumption of drinking water, the community of municipalities has invested in the Reut (reuse of treated wastewater). “The waste water from the treatment plant, treated via a UV reactor, is routed through a 2.5 km pipeline. Thanks to a buffer stock of 1,700 cubic meters, only a part is taken for watering,” explains the spokesperson for the Hérault company. An estimated gain of 250,000 cubic meters of water per year, or 50% water savings for the seaside resort. “The Reuse [autre acronyme pour la Reut, NDLR] has all its interest for the municipalities of the coast which discharge wastewater into the sea. But it cannot be done everywhere, she continues. In low water support, rivers must be kept afloat to replenish groundwater. »
Smaller actors are also not lacking in initiatives. In Sète, on the private La Ola beach, the water from the public showers is filtered and treated to be reused in the toilets. The system, installed at the start of the season by a Montpellier company, cost 6,000 euros. It will be amortized over two years. “I would have done it anyway, assures the owner, Claude Herzog, because the waste of water bothers me. » Here too, customers
should appreciate the gesture, not so ridiculous.
#Hérault #coast #fragile #initiatives #save #water