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2026-10-08Key Facts: France's national "Plan Eau" (launched in 2023年) aims to implement 1000 unconventional water reuse projects by 2027年, and to increase the treated wastewater reuse rate to 10% by 2030年—while the current rate is less than 1%. The benchmark project Argelès-sur-Mer has reused 130万 cubic meters of treated effluent annually since 2026年; the Jourdain project in Vendée adopts a combined process of "Ultrafiltration + Low-Pressure Reverse Osmosis + UV + Chlorination," and has already produced 150万 cubic meters of drinking water during the dry season, with a target of increasing to 200—300万 cubic meters by 2027年.
I. From Less Than 1% to 10%: A Tenfold Catch-Up
Europe has traditionally been regarded as a water-rich region, but consecutive droughts and groundwater overexploitation in recent years are changing this perception. France is a particularly typical case: high-temperature summer droughts have become the norm, and seasonal peak water demand from agricultural irrigation, urban landscaping, and tourism directly conflicts with the requirements of ecological base flow protection.
To address this situation, France launched the national "Plan Eau" in 2023年, with reclaimed water reuse as one of its pillars. The plan sets two clear milestones:
- 2027年—promote the implementation of 1000 unconventional water (reclaimed water, rainwater, etc.) reuse projects.
- 2030年—achieve a treated wastewater reuse rate of 10%, while the current level is less than 1%.
In other words, France plans to push the reclaimed water reuse rate up by about tenfold in less than a decade. These measures will significantly reduce withdrawals from groundwater and rivers, while meeting the multiple needs of agriculture, cities, and tourism.
II. Benchmark Project One: Argelès-sur-Mer, 130万 Cubic Meters Reused Annually
Located on the Mediterranean coast in the Pyrénées-Orientales department of southern France, the small town of Argelès-sur-Mer is a frontrunner of France's national "Plan Eau"—one of the first to benefit from the water fund established by the French government.
- Implementing entities—jointly advanced by the Albères-Côte Vermeille-Illibéris intermunicipal community and Veolia.
- Launch date—official reuse began in 2026年.
- Reuse scale—130万 cubic meters of treated domestic sewage reused annually.
- Intuitive benefit—equivalent to 5 months of drinking water consumption by local residents; the goal is to protect local water resources and sustainably support agricultural production in a context of water stress.
The importance of this project lies not in its technical difficulty, but in its demonstration effect: it has verified that in a typical Mediterranean tourism-oriented small city, municipal-level reclaimed water reuse can be practically implemented at both the economic and approval levels.
III. Benchmark Project Two: The Jourdain Plan, Turning Wastewater into Drinking Water
If Argelès-sur-Mer addresses irrigation and landscape water use, then the Jourdain Plan in the Vendée department directly steps into a more sensitive field—indirect potable reuse.
- Implementing entities — Vendée Eau and Veolia.
- Core technology and equipment — A high-tech reuse unit named Barrel™ is adopted, with a process combination of "Ultrafiltration (UF) + Low-Pressure Reverse Osmosis (RO) + Ultraviolet (UV) + Chlorine Disinfection."
- Commissioning time — The unit was completed and put into operation in 2023年11月.
- Current capacity — It can produce 150万 cubic meters of drinking water per dry season.
- Upgrade target — By 2027年, the scale will be increased to 200万—300万 cubic meters, sufficient to cover the water demand of approximately 6万 residents.
The detail of "low-pressure Reverse Osmosis" is worth noting: compared with traditional high-pressure RO for seawater desalination, it achieves deep desalination of treated effluent at lower operating pressure, making it a key cost-reduction pathway for upgrading municipal sewage to a high-grade water source.
IV. Regulatory Framework: What Is Permitted, What Is Excluded
France's regulation of wastewater reuse did not begin with the "Water Plan." As early as 2010年, relevant provisions were incorporated into the framework of the Code de l'environnement (Environmental Code), and permitted uses were clarified through ministerial decrees.
- Traditionally permitted uses — Agricultural irrigation, urban green space watering, etc.
- Uses expanded under the "Water Plan" — Newly added municipal miscellaneous uses such as urban cleaning and firefighting.
- Explicitly excluded — Direct domestic uses (such as sanitation and food-related contact) are excluded to safeguard health and safety. This is also why "indirect potable" projects like Jourdain require multi-barrier process configurations.
At the same time, France has also established supporting regulatory and economic support mechanisms. However, the practical challenges widely reported by the industry remain prominent: complex approval processes, high project costs, and applicability often limited to local areas — these three points are the main obstacles to increasing the reuse rate.
V. Three Insights for Global Peers
- Policy pace is more critical than technology — France's technological reserves have long been in place; the real bottleneck lies in water pricing, approval, and public acceptance. The quantitative target of "1000 projects" is essentially about leveraging administrative resources to drive approvals and financing.
- Membrane combination determines product grade — From landscape irrigation to indirect potable use, the difference lies in the barriers of "Ultrafiltration + Low-Pressure RO + UV + Chlorine Disinfection." Project owners can first determine the target positioning of reclaimed water, then work backward to map the required process configuration.
- Reclaimed water is complementary, not a replacement — The French industry positions it as a supplementary water source to groundwater and river abstraction. At the same time, alternative approaches such as Atmospheric Water Generation (AWG) have emerged, forming complementary strategies with reuse in specific scenarios. This "multi-source parallel" approach is more resilient for arid and water-scarce regions.
VI. TIANYI TECH's Perspective
TIANYI TECH believes that the most noteworthy aspect of the French case is the institutional implications behind the numbers "from 1% to 10%" — a developed country with relatively favorable water resource conditions is willing to establish a dedicated water fund to increase the reclaimed water reuse rate, relax the boundaries of municipal uses, and for the first time send municipal wastewater to a drinking water treatment line. This marks that the positioning of reclaimed water has completely shifted from "emergency water supplementation" to "baseload water source." For China's ongoing pilot programs for reclaimed water utilization allocation, the French experience offers two lessons: first, the use list and approval pathways must be cleared before engineering construction, to avoid the situation of "water produced but not delivered to users"; second, the water quality targets for reclaimed water must be front-loaded into the upgrading and renovation plan, to avoid secondary investment later for raising the reuse grade.
About TIANYI LIMITED
TIANYI TECH focuses on the fields of wastewater treatment, reclaimed water reuse, and water resource recycling, providing one-stop services from process consulting, solution design, equipment integration, and engineering implementation to smart operation and maintenance. The company is committed to promoting wastewater resource recovery through technological innovation, helping industrial enterprises and municipal clients achieve multiple goals including water conservation and carbon reduction, compliant discharge, and sustainable development.
Source: Yadlo "Wastewater reuse in France", Veolia official materials, Smart Water Magazine, Citego, and related research from the University of Montpellier, compiled and organized, 2026年10月
