Drought: in Brest, water from the wastewater treatment plant is used to water young trees

In this hot and dry summer, all solutions are good to try to save one of the most precious resources on earth: water. In Brest, in Finistère, the city uses purified water from the treatment plant to water young trees. Light on this ecological initiative.

How to water the trees when we are on the alert for drought? Brest has found a temporary solution: using the water that leaves the station in the port area. This decision follows a prefectural decree of 16 July 2022 that obliges the city to limit water abstractions from the groundwater and to regulate the use of drinking water.

Photo: Shutterstock

Until the rains return and temperatures continue to rise in Finistère, lawns, stadiums or even ephemeral gardens will no longer be watered. However, in order to save the 400 newly planted young trees, Brest Métropole has recently started using purified water from the port area, which is usually discharged into the port. They are not polluted but not drinkable. Watering these plants is done by tank on trucks and is possible from 6 to 10 am.

“The maintenance of these plants is fully conditioned by additional watering. A reduction in water capacity would, in the very short term, jeopardize the survival of these saplings, which are not in line with climate emergency targets.”

Brest Métropole, quoted by West France

The survival of this plant heritage is important as these young trees contribute to the moderation of the urban climate…

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