We work to save water and energy

Conserving natural resources means also taking steps to improve the way we use them. Veolia implements solutions for more efficient water and energy use.
Issue
Solution

Smart meters detect leaks in Le Havre

Thousands of cubic meters of water are lost without ever being used because of leaky pipes. In the French city of Le Havre, M2OCity – a joint venture between Veolia and Orange – is installing 100,000 smart meters that will enable significant water savings by 2016 through improved leak detection.

Water loss resulting from dripping taps, running toilets and faulty relief valves on hot water tanks often goes unseen.
Now, a small box fitted to individual water meters can send information on the water consumption of each customer to the service operator. If a leak is suspected, the customer receives a text message allowing them to take the necessary steps. For the city of Le Havre, this represents yet another step forward in protecting water resources.

Solution

Schools in Košice are reducing their energy consumption

 

74 schools in Košice – Slovakia's second-largest city after Bratislava – had outdated, energy-hungry heating and hot water systems.

For Veolia, the challenge lay in reducing the schools' energy consumption without requiring any changes to buildings. Key initiatives implemented include: installing 17,000 thermostats, replacing old boilers with more efficient condensation boilers, adjusting heating curves and negotiating rates.

A campaign to raise awareness of energy savings is being rolled out among schools and residents in the region.

As part of this ambitious project, Veolia has committed to achieving energy savings of 19% by 2017.

Solution

The grass is greener for cows in the UK

Müller Wiseman Dairies (formerly Robert Wiseman Dairies) is the UK's largest milk producer: its cows produce 30% of the milk consumed every day in Great Britain.

The dairy producer's key sustainable development goal is to use natural resources more sparingly. At one of the company’s dairies, this led to a campaign to reduce water consumption.

To rise to the challenge, Veolia suggested recycling wastewater from the site using a reverse osmosis system designed to provide extremely fine filtration via low-pressure membranes and highly efficient pumps. This enables a 99% reduction in the chemical oxygen demand usually associated with recycling water and dissolving salt and bacteria.

As a result, Müller Wiseman Dairies now discharges less wastewater into the sewerage system. The wastewater is used to turn wetland into land suitable for grazing, as well as to reduce COemissions.