The prefecture has not granted environmental authorization for the development of the new technology of the Syndicat des eaux d’Île-de-France, on a pilot site located in Savigny-le-Temple. Sedif says it is determined to continue the project, despite being criticized for its economic and ecological consequences.
The project “Towards pure water, without limestone and without chlorine“, valued at 800 million euros, promises to revolutionize filtration techniques. In a press release published Thursday, the Syndicat des eaux d’Île-de-France (Sedif) says “take note” the decision of the prefecture of Seine-et-Marne, which did not grant the environmental authorization necessary for the deployment of its new technology. This water treatment by “Low Pressure Reverse Osmosis“(OIBP) is supposed to be developed on the pilot site of Arvigny in Savigny-le-Temple, where the public establishment hoped to quickly start work, with an estimated cost of 34 million euros.
What complicates the progress of the project, launched in 2018. OIBP, a filtration technique “extremely thin” and close to nanofiltration, must “allow users to be offered purer water, without limestone and chlorine, but also free of a maximum of micropollutants and endocrine disruptors“, according to the Sedif. A “pioneer project” who offers “many benefits for the health of users, for the planet and should lead to a net saving of €100 per household and per year“, adds the public establishment.
A three-step method: the water must be drawn from the Champigny underground water table, then filtered in the Arvigny plant using a membrane system. The 10% of water withdrawn that cannot pass the filter must then be discharged into the Seine. Filtered water must finally be available in several municipalities in Essonne and Val-de-Marne.
But the project faces strong criticism. The Grand Paris Sud agglomeration community and many elected officials are indeed asking to put an end to the project. Opponents point to the use of the Champigny groundwater, in tension, but also the dumping of concentrates (undesirable elements retained by the membranes) into the Seine. They also consider the investment too costly.
On the Sedif side, André Santini, president of the public establishment and UDI mayor of Issy-les-Moulineaux, in the Hauts-de-Seine, says to himself “determined to pursue this project of the future and of general interest, which meets the expectations of our 4 million users in the Ile-de-France in terms of water quality and anticipates the increasing requirements of the authorities in terms of health“.
Sedif intends to continue the deployment of the OIBP in its three main factories, located on the Seine, the Marne and the Oise, from 2024. The public establishment, which “regret the impact“that the prefectural decision”will have on the progress of the work of the pilot plant“, indicates that “discussions will continue shortly with the various parties“.
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