Alimentation en Eau et Assainissement : rapport général (2ème partie)

Water supply and sanitation: general report 2

Générale des Eaux

Abstract

Produdng sufficient quantities of drinking water is a great responsibility for the water industry, especially since the associated difficulties are growing alongside the ever-increasing levels of urbanisation across the world. The high investment levels required for water production and distribution projects, as well as for sewerage, show the need for internationally based cooperation and assistance. The French model rapidly became the accepted approach in countries where the Générale des Eaux and Suez: Lyonnaise Groups are operating, and the international networks which have subsequently been developed with local partners have led to the sharing of ideas and acquired knowledge. These networks are increasingly developing around the major operators in the water industry. To ensure a rapid transfer of technology and knowledge, there is a need for a technical assistance network that can potentially be mobilised at any time and anywhere in the world. The adaptation of modelling software to new problems or new situations depends on the capacity of the users and the developers to group themselves around commercially available software. It is important to have a good balance between the increasingly rapid and high performance circuits interlinking the centres where technological development is concentrated and the training of staff able to industrialise and use these new systems. The ability to mobilise competences and place them at the service of field operators is one of the keys to successfully completing large projects. The examples presented by the new technical centre in Adelaide, the purification of the large sewerage collectors in Buenos Aires, the adaptation of modelling software to new problems using commercially available software, the consumption of chlorine within the system in Israel and the new challenges presented by standard procedures are all subjects treated in question 4 of the 25th Hydraulic Days and demonstrate that the full control of water, and ensuring its availability to rural and urban population, is task that is far from easy.