Scientific chronicle : managing water resource quality

Veolia Environnement Research & Development is also working on quantitative parameters.

"Access for everyone to the essential services of water and wastewater is a priority for Veolia Water. To achieve this, it is necessary to have effective techniques to protect the quality of water resources."

Antoine Frérot
President, Veolia Water

Francis Luck, Director, KWB - Berlin, answers Sylke Freudenthal's questions, VE Foundation - Germany, regarding the research carried out by Veolia Environnement on managing water resource quality

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Did you know?

Since Antiquity, humans have always had to face the issue of water supply.

The Mayas abandoned their cities when the water was no longer fit for consumption. 

The Greeks developed systems to catch rainwater, and simple but efficient irrigation systems.

Napoleon I decided in 1805 to divert part of the water flowing in the Ourcq River into Paris via a canal. However, the quality of the water distributed was not good and it led to a series of epidemics. In 1854, Prefect Haussmann and Eugène Belgrand, Director of Paris Water and Wastewater, decided to build a sewer system and transport freshwater in closed aqueducts, safe from pollution. The water pumped from the Seine and Marne rivers upstream from Paris was treated by slow sand filtration.

In the 1960s, River Basin Authorities were established in France for the quantitative and qualitative management and monitoring of water resources, and to implement systems to counter resource deterioration.

Today, there are an everincreasing number of sources of pollution, and water resource management is of global importance. The UN has introduced a specific program under the UNEP or the United Nations Environment Program.

Research objectives

At its Berlin Center of Water Expertise (KWB) (Germany), Veolia Environnement is carrying out research projects on improving water resource management, in particular focusing on:

• Natural and artificial recharging of aquifers;
• Understanding the natural phenomena of bank filtration, and the mechanisms involved in eliminating impurities;
• The chemical reactions of water's components.