Water prices will rise to pay costs of repairing leaks

The network needs up to €2billion a year extra spending on it, with a cost to households of about 10% extra – or €3.30 per month for the average family, the Fédération des Entre­prises de l’Eau said

With 700billion litres of water lost before reaching consumers, Prime Minister Edouard Phil­ippe has offered special aid of €100million to help small communes fund work.

Hénon (Côtes-d’Armor) faces work on 90km of pipes for just 1,000 households. Replacing 3km of pipes costs €800,000.

After a year-long consultation in the Assises de l’Eau, Mr Phil­ippe said more investment was vital and setting social tariffs via a chèque eau for less well-off households had shown it could increase funding.

This will be funded by local water authorities but will be compensated by a reduction in the numbers of non-payers.

Local authorities have shied away from raising water prices but this led to just 0.6% of pipes being replaced each year, which means work would take more than 100 years - and pipework has a 60-year lifespan.

An extra €5billion will be invested over five years to double mains renewals rates while €2billion in low-cost loans will be offered at the Caisse des Dépôts.

The Assises de l’Eau said 99.4% of people had a quality water supply 95% of the time with a cost on average of €4.07/m3. Prices range from €4.72/m3 in Brit­tany to €3.52/m3 in Paca.