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| Company type | Municipally owned corporation |
|---|---|
| Industry | Water industry |
| Founded | 1 February 2009  |
| Headquarters | Paris |
Area served | Paris |
Key people | Célia Blauel (chair) |
| Products | Drinking water |
| Parent | City of Paris |
| Website | www |
Eau de Paris (Paris Water) is the publicly owned company responsible for the public water supply and waste water collection for the city of Paris.
In 1985, Jacques Chirac, then Mayor of Paris decided to transfer the municipal water service into the hands of three private entities with a direct contract and without a public procurement procedure. [1] The property of water wasn't formally transferred and was kept as a public common good. Eau et Force and Compagnie des Eaux de Paris had a 25-year concession for the distribution and customer services respectively related to the right and left banks of the River Seine. In 1987, the water production and transport were delegated for a 25-years period to SAGEP, a semi-public company owned by Ville de Paris (70%) and Suez & Veolia (28%). [2]
Eau de Paris was created in 2008 after a ballot initiative from then Mayor Bertrand Delanoë. The city's water was then substantially managed by two private companies (Veolia and Suez) which the municipal government bought out. [3]
The company distributes 563,000 m³ of drinking water a day. [4] In 2010 the company began installing drinking fountains dispensing fizzy water in the city. [5]
Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. These systems are what supply drinking water to populations around the globe. Aspects of service quality include continuity of supply, water quality and water pressure. The institutional responsibility for water supply is arranged differently in different countries and regions. It usually includes issues surrounding policy and regulation, service provision and standardization.
Water privatization is short for private sector participations in the provision of water services and sanitation. Water privatization has a variable history in which its popularity and favorability has fluctuated in the market and politics. One of the common forms of privatization is public–private partnerships (PPPs). PPPs allow for a mix between public and private ownership and/or management of water and sanitation sources and infrastructure. Privatization, as proponents argue, may not only increase efficiency and service quality but also increase fiscal benefits. There are different forms of regulation in place for current privatization systems.
The water industry provides drinking water and wastewater services to residential, commercial, and industrial sectors of the economy. Typically public utilities operate water supply networks. The water industry does not include manufacturers and suppliers of bottled water, which is part of the beverage production and belongs to the food sector.
A drinking fountain, also called a water fountain or water bubbler, is a fountain designed to provide drinking water. It consists of a basin with either continuously running water or a tap. The drinker bends down to the stream of water and swallows water directly from the stream. Modern indoor drinking fountains may incorporate filters to remove impurities from the water and chillers to lower its temperature. Drinking fountains are usually found in public places, like schools, rest areas, libraries, and grocery stores.
Veolia Environnement S.A., branded as Veolia, is a French transnational company with activities in three main service and utility areas traditionally managed by public authorities – water management, waste management and energy services. In 2023, Veolia employed 218,000 employees in 57 countries. Its revenue in that year was recorded at €45.351 billion. It is quoted on Euronext Paris. It is headquartered in Aubervilliers.
Water supply and sanitation in France is universal and of good quality. Salient features of the sector compared to other developed countries are the high degree of private sector participation using concession and lease contracts and the existence of basin agencies that levy fees on utilities in order to finance environmental investments. Water losses in France (26%) are high compared to England (19%) and Germany (7%).
Water supply and sanitation in China is undergoing a massive transition while facing numerous challenges such as rapid urbanization, increasing economic inequality, and the supply of water to rural areas. Water scarcity and pollution also impact access to water.
Grupo Agbar, formerly Aigües de Barcelona, is a Spanish water utility company. Since 2022, it has been part of Veolia.
Water supply and sanitation in Belgium is provided by a large variety of organizations: Most of the 581 municipalities of Belgium have delegated the responsibility for water supply and sanitation to regional or inter-municipal utilities. There are more than 62 water supply utilities, including 2 regional, 30 inter-municipal and 30 municipal utilities. Another 100 mostly small municipalities provide services directly without having a legally of financially separate entity for water supply. Water is not scarce in Belgium and water supply is generally continuous and of good quality. However, wastewater treatment has long lagged behind and Brussels only achieved full treatment of its wastewater in 2007. In 2004 the European Court of Justice ruled condemning Belgium's failure to comply with the EU wastewater directive, and the ruling has not been fully complied with so far. Wallonia satisfies 55% of the national needs in drinking water while it counts only 37% of the population. Flanders and Brussels are dependent on drinking water from Wallonia, at a level of 40% and 98% respectively.
Water privatization in Morocco goes back to the times of the French Protectorate when most water supply systems were run under a private concession. After independence the private utility was nationalized, but in the mid-1990s the Moroccan government privatized water and sewer services again, alongside electricity distribution, in four cities. The privatization process began with the award of the Casablanca concession to Lyonnaise des Eaux in 1997, followed by the award of a concession for the capital Rabat in 1998 and the award of another concession for Tangiers and Tetouan to Veolia Environnement. In 2009 private companies provided water and sanitation services to 38% of the urban population of the country.
Water supply and sanitation in Morocco is provided by a wide array of utilities. They range from private companies in the largest city, Casablanca, the capital, Rabat, Tangier, and Tetouan, to public municipal utilities in 13 other cities, as well as a national electricity and water company (ONEE). The latter is in charge of bulk water supply to the aforementioned utilities, water distribution in about 500 small towns, as well as sewerage and wastewater treatment in 60 of these towns.
Veolia Water is the water division of the French company Veolia Environnement and the world's largest supplier of water services.
Water supply and sanitation in Burkina Faso are characterized by high access to water supply in urban areas, while access to an at least basic water sources in rural areas – where three quarters of the population live – remains relatively low. An estimated one third of water facilities in rural areas are out of service because of a lack of maintenance. Access to at least basic sanitation lags significantly behind access to water supply.
Water privatization in Algeria has been carried out in the country's four largest cities – Algiers, Annaba, Constantine and Oran – in 2005-08 through management contracts. Under a management contract a private company operates a water system for a defined period on behalf of a public authority and is remunerated through a fixed fee as well as a performance-based variable fee. In all four contracts the public partner is the local utility. The local utilities are all jointly owned by the national water holding company Algerienne de l’Eau and the national sanitation holding company ONA, which are both under the authority of the Ministry of Water Resources. The Minister of Water Resources, Abdelmalek Sellal, said in late 2011 that what is fundamental to the management contracts is not so much to ensure 24-hour water supply, but to "instill a new management culture" that regards water "as a commercial good that requires technological know-how and management skills".
Water supply and sanitation in Italy is characterized by mostly good services at prices that are lower than in other European countries with similar income levels. For example, the average monthly residential water and sewer bill in Italy is 20 Euro compared to 31 Euro in France. According to the OECD, water in Italy has been underpriced for a long time. With about 240 liter per day, per capita water use for residential uses in Italy is higher than in Spain or in France, where it is about 160 liter per day. Water resources in Italy are distributed unevenly, with more abundant resources in the North and scarcer resources in the South. Most water withdrawals are for agriculture and industry, with only 18 percent of water withdrawals made for drinking water supply. About one third of the water withdrawn for municipal supply is not billed to the customers because of leakage, malfunctioning water meters and water theft.
The water and sewer system of Bucharest, the capital of Romania with a population of 2.3 million, was privatized in 2000 through a 25-year concession to the French company Veolia. The impact of the concession is mixed. During the first years almost 3,000 employees were laid off and water bills increased four-fold. There were improvements in service quality and efficiency, but most of the improvements occurred before privatization and improvements in service quality since privatization are not well documented. Privatization placed the burden of financing the renewal of the infrastructure directly on water consumers rather than on taxpayers. The private water utility owned by Veolia, Apa Nova București, is considered one of the most profitable Romanian utilities.
Water privatization in France, in the form of public–private partnerships, goes back to the mid-19th century when cities signed concessions with private water companies for the supply of drinking water. As of 2010, according to the Ministry of Environment 75% of water and 50% of sanitation services in France are provided by the private sector, primarily by two firms, Veolia Water and Suez Environnement. In 1993 the Loi Sapin strengthened competition in the sector by limiting the duration of contracts to 20 years, among others. In 2010 the lease contracts for Paris with Suez Environnement and Veolia Water expired and the water system returned to public management.
Drinking water supply and sanitation in Algeria is characterized by achievements and challenges. Among the achievements is a substantial increase in the amount of drinking water supplied from reservoirs, long-distance water transfers and desalination at a low price to consumers, thanks to the country's substantial oil and gas revenues. These measures increased per capita water supply despite a rapidly increasing population. Another achievement is the transition from intermittent to continuous water supply in the capital Algiers in 2011, along with considerable improvements in wastewater treatment resulting in better water quality at beaches. These achievements were made possible through a public-private partnership with a private French water company. The number of wastewater treatment plants throughout the country increased rapidly from only 18 in 2000 to 113 in 2011, with 96 more under construction. However, there are also many challenges. One of them is poor service quality in many cities outside Algiers with 78% of urban residents suffering from intermittent water supply. Another challenge is the pollution of water resources. There has also been insufficient progress concerning reuse of treated water, a government priority in this dry country.
The Pavillon de l'eau is a museum devoted to water belonging to the City of Paris and managed by Eau de Paris, the municipal agency in charge of production and distribution of water in Paris. The Pavillon de l’eau offers a permanent exhibition about the water supply history of the city, temporary exhibitions, children's activities and thematic meetings.
Ángel Simón Grimaldos is a Spanish businessman, CEO of CriteriaCaixa. Simón has been the executive president of Grupo Agbar from 2010 to 2024.
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