Saving water is a concern for the municipalities and for the French. Also for distribution companies, which hunt for leaks to prevent the precious liquid from entering nature.
One knee on the ground, an electronic stethoscope resting on the ground, a technician tries to hear the flow of water in the underground pipes. From the noise, he can know if the flow is normal or not. He was sent there by his colleagues who saw an anomaly on their water flow curves.
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“We have the counters installed on the different sectors of the network, they allow us to visualize the losses that may occur “ says Rodolphe Roué, the manager of the Véolia company in Bressuire (79). And the best time to check water use is with the curves of the night, during which time the taps shouldn’t be running. “A stream that goes from 1 m3 per hour at night at 1.7 then 2m3 and that continues to rise, there is a flaw in the sector “ he details.
The hunt for leaks continues on the pitch, because there are always leaks.
There are no zero losses. There are settlements, works … and the cast iron of the pipes is deformed.
Sébastien Ribouleau, loss hunter for Véolia
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And this year, with drought hardening the soil, the slightest hit of a digger for any construction site will lift a pipe and cause abnormal water flow.
It must be said that water leaks are a scourge. In August 2022, the Observatory of Public Water and Sanitation Services estimated in its annual report that one in five liters of water was lost in nature. This represents 937 million cubic meters, or the consumption of 18 million inhabitants. In question, the deterioration of some networks and the advanced age of the numerous pipelines. The report estimates that water companies could eliminate 80-90% of the losses.
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