Opened in 1982, it currently brings together 110 researchers. Research focuses primarily on the water sector (production and distribution of drinking water) and wastewater (treating municipal and industrial wastewater, odor control).

Finally, a team provides support for the various programs in all aspects of modeling (advanced process design, use of simulation tools for water systems and plants).

The most widely respected water research centre in France, 'Anjou Recherche' has been recognized by the European Commission as a Centre of Excellence Marie Curie in the following areas:

• membranes
• disinfection
• biological treatments
• hydraulic modeling

Since the setting up of'Anjou Recherche' the main achievements are as follows:

• treatment methods including leading products such as ACTIFLO^TM, FLOTTAZONE^TM, AQUILAIR^TM, ATHOS^TM, ALIZAIR^TM, BIOSEP^TM, BIOSTYR^TM, CATAZONE^TM, BIOTHELIS^TM, SAPHYR^TM, OPALINE^TM ;
• operating software and tools such as ACTIPOL^TM, LERNE^TM, CRYPTOGIA^TM, SIMOZONE^TM, ICARE^TM ;
• measurement instruments such as AUTOMICROTOX^TM, RESPIREAUX^TM, SILTIMETRE^TM, SUPEROXYDOSE^TM... ;
• analysis methods for organic and metallic micro-pollutants, bacteria, viruses and parasites.

Almost half the research teams of Veolia Water are based in France at'Anjou Recherche'. It has affiliated research units based in the USA, Canada and Germany.

In France, Veolia Water works with major French institutions such as:

• Pasteur Institute
• Commissariat à l'Agence Atomique (CEA) - Atomic Agency Commission
• Institut pour la Research Agronomique (INRA) - National Institute for Agricultural Research
• ANVAR - French Agency for Innovation
• Agence de Development and de Maîtrise de l'Energie (ADEME) - Environment and Energy Management Agency
• In France, the 6 Water Agencies which supervise the major drainage basins
• Centre National de la Research Scientifique (CNRS) - National Centre for Scientific Research -

Throughout the world Veolia Water works in partnership with more than a hundred different organizations such as ministries, universities and institutions including:

• Technical University, Berlin
• University of New South Wales, Australia
• American Water Works Association Research Foundation
• Global Water Research Coalition
• European Commission
• Environmental Protection Agency (USA)
• Environmental Agency (Great Britain)

A method of storing, treating and reusing wastewater has been developed in Australia. As part of its Adelaide contract, research teams from United Water (South Australia), have been carrying out an ambitious research project on the storage of wastewater in aquifers (ASR- Aquifer Storage and Recovery) since 1997.

Developed in collaboration with Australian research organizations, part of this project was to study all the technical, operational, economic and environmental aspects of storing water in aquifers.

Since the beginning of on-site trials in 1999, 360,000 m3 of treated wastewater has been injected into an aquifer and 240,000 m3 reused.

The results of this study have been positive.

They point to an improvement in the quality of the injected water after storage in the aquifer and in particular reduction :

• of pathogens ;
• of the by-products from chlorination ;
• of suspended particles ;
• of organic matter ;
• of most metals ;
• and of certain endocrine disrupters

The reason behind this improvement in quality has been identified.

It is essentially due to the presence of micro-organisms which are naturally present in the aquifer.

A third injection cycle is underway with the aim of obtaining more comprehensive operational data.

The invaluable experience gained as a result of this project has enabled other ASR projects to be successfully implemented at several new sites.