DCOM/COR/06-09/E40
Business Overview 2008
Veolia Water 52, rue d’Anjou 75384 Paris Cedex, France Tel.: +33 1 49 24 49 24 www.veoliawater.com
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Interview with Antoine Frérot
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Water cycle manager Global operations
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How can we manage pressure on water resources while maintaining first-class quality of service? 14 Customers
Industry
93,433
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Public authorities
employees worldwide
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4,400 operating contracts
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How can we make good quality water accessible for all? Solutions and Technologies
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Networks and associated facilities Research and Development
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How can we act to responsibly support all stakeholders? 32 Human Resources
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The year in brief
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Sustainable Development
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managed around the world
More than 80 million people provided with water service
Nearly 59 million people provided with wastewater service
64 countries where Veolia Water operates
How can we act to responsibly support all stakeholders?
Profile
The world’s leading operator of water services, Veolia Water operates water and wastewater services on behalf of public authorities and companies. It also designs the technical solutions and builds the facilities needed to provide those services. Operating under medium- and long-term contracts, Veolia Water covers the entire water cycle with a constant focus on protecting resources and saving water. Veolia Water’s activities range from raw water withdrawal from the environment through production and distribution of drinking water and industrial process water, and from the collection and transportation of wastewater through treatment to be recycled or discharged back into the environment. Veolia Water is a division of Veolia Environnement, which also provides services in waste management, energy and transportation.
How can we make good quality water accessible for all?
The global benchmark in water services
How can we manage pressure on water resources while maintaining first-class quality of service?
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VEOLIA WATER
Interview
“Our innovation focuses on sustainable water management.” Interview with Antoine Frérot, Chief Executive Officer of Veolia Water What are the main challenges to be taken up in water management? Antoine Frérot: The two main challenges are access to drinking water and sanitation and the pressure on water resources. This pressure is due to increasing population numbers and growing urbanization, which is placing greater stress on local resources for domestic and industrial purposes, and even for agricultural uses near urban areas. Every month, the world’s urban population increases by a number that is roughly equivalent to the size of a city like Madrid. The third challenge is ecological, given that 2015 marks the end of the period stipulated by the European Union for Member States to restore all bodies of water to an acceptable level of quality. Meeting this challenge mainly involves treating municipal and industrial wastewater. It also requires monitoring and preserving aquatic biodiversity in rivers and lakes.
What was Veolia Water’s position in 2008 with regard to these challenges? A. F.: Veolia Water has remained committed to working toward the Millennium Development Goals, one of which is to halve the number of people in the world without access to safe water or basic sanitation by 2015. These commitments were reiterated by the United Nations in September 2008. To this end, we have worked in many countries, especially Morocco, Niger and Bangladesh. The joint company created in 2008 between Professor Muhammad Yunus’ Grameen Bank and Veolia Water in Bangladesh is pioneering the professor’s experimental “Social Business” model in the area of water. It will result in drinking water being supplied to more than 100,000 people in this highly disadvantaged country. In total, Veolia Water provides access to water for some 6 million people in Africa and India.
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Interview
What measures has Veolia Water taken in response to the pressure on water resources? A. F.: Veolia Water’s efforts are concentrated on two main fronts. The first is combating wastage. We can already do a lot without having to feel restricted. Water savings are often the biggest immediately available resource. Improving the performance of supply networks and tracking down leaks are among our service teams’ main tasks under the contracts we sign. In Paris, the loss rate has dropped from 20% to 5% in the past 20 years. Saving water also means managing demand and Veolia Water advises its consumers in this area. For example, in Shenzhen, China, where we manage the water service for almost 8 million people, we send 70,000 text messages each month to our customers, mainly to warn them about excessive consumption. Comprehensive action plans, including, for example, personnel training and anticipating fluctuations in demand, enable us to focus on savings without sacrificing our customers’ needs. This is the case in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where the population of 4 million currently only has access to drinking water for four hours a day. Veolia Water has recently been contracted to lift that service rate to 24/7 within five years. I would like to take this opportunity to mention the development of our PPP model in the Middle East. In 2008, we signed a 25-year contract in Abu Dhabi, UAE, to finance, design and build two new wastewater treatment plants that we will then operate for 22 years. We also provide our industrial clients with expertise in the cautious use of water. We develop treatment and recycling systems for their wastewater, which contributes to getting the most out of their processes and helps them contain their costs. An increasing number of our industrial contracts cover the entire water cycle.
So wastewater can become a new resource? A. F.: Absolutely. The recycling of wastewater has become an accepted solution for producing water for use in industry, farming or the home. We can already boast of several such examples. In Singapore, microelectronic plants are supplied with ultra-pure water produced from reprocessed wastewater. Near Berlin, Germany, we recycle wastewater to recharge the aquifer. Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, is another of our references. Veolia Water and its partners operate a wastewater recycling plant there that supplies drinking water to the city’s residents. Without it, Windhoek would fall 35% short of meeting the city’s demand. Today, the design and application of sophisticated treatment processes is still one of our growth areas. In 2008, we signed a contract with AquaNet Sydney for Australia’s largest private wastewater recycling project to supply water to a network of industrial clients.
Is seawater desalination also one of these new sources? A. F.: Certainly. Seawater is the most abundant source on the planet, yet just 1% of drinking water is produced by desalination. When you think that 40% of the world’s population lives less than 70 km from the coast, it becomes abundantly clear that this technique has high growth potential. In 2008, we continued to focus efforts on this alternative solution to traditional resources. We are a leading partner with Australia in its combat against drought; for example, construction of the Gold Coast, Queensland, plant (125,000 m3/day) is nearing completion ready to come on stream in early 2009. As a responsible company, through our R&D, we also concentrate on reducing the energy required to run our processes, and we make sure we assess the environmental impact of the effluent they create. This is the focus of the partnership agreement we signed with the Institut Océanographique Paul Ricard for a large-scale study in the Mediterranean.
To conclude, how would you sum up 2008? A. F.: In 2008, Veolia Water once again applied its expertise and technology to helping achieve sustainable water management. Our people’s dynamism and culture of innovation helped us through the year despite the difficult economic climate. The fact that revenue outside France was up 16.5% clearly demonstrates that an increasing number of clients are opting for our model of private management of public services. Our commitment to society would be nothing without our employees; that is why we make their health and safety a prime focus. I am proud that Veolia Water was the first private company in the water sector to be invited by the International Labor Organization in 2008 to sign the Seoul Declaration recognizing health and safety at work as a basic human right. This recognition can only reinforce our status as the benchmark for our industry in 2009.
What can you tell us about the “good ecological status” of water bodies, as referred to earlier?
Our commitment to society would be nothing without our employees; that is why we make their health and safety a prime focus.
CHANGE IN BREAKDOWN OF REVENUE OUTSIDE FRANCE/FRANCE 2006
2007 47.6%
52.4%
GROWTH IN EMPLOYEE NUMBERS 93,433 82,867 77,841
2008 45.1%
54.9%
A. F.: Veolia Water is participating actively, and I would like to cite the examples of the very large wastewater treatment plants that have come into service in Brussels, Belgium, and Achères and Marseilles, France. As far as the development of aquatic environment monitoring and protection services are concerned, we have launched a bathing water project with Ifremer(1) to develop a tool to provide pollution readings virtually in real time. I would also like to emphasize the challenge we have set ourselves to bring water back into the heart of our cities, while ensuring complete health and physical safety for the residents. Our approach is multifaceted: fountains, sprays, drinking fountains, etc. We might also implement alternative management methods, such as collecting stormwater for use in parks and gardens. It’s Veolia Water’s role to work with its clients in tackling these new challenges.
43.9% 56.1%
(1) French research institute for maritime management.
2006
2007
2008
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The year in brief
2008 highlights
RUSSIA In preparation for the 2014 Winter games in Sochi, Russia, Seureca, Veolia Water’s international engineering unit, will design the wastewater master plan with French government funding. It will also present a study of the potential for renewable energy generation and prepare a submission for carbon credits.
FINLAND Under a five-year contract, Veolia Water aims to improve production effluent treatment for Europe’s leading metals company, Boliden, at its Harjavalta facility.
FRANCE In Paris, Veolia Water’s Eco-Environmental Engineering unit, specializing in sustainable urban development, won the contract to help devise the stormwater management strategy for the future Clichy-Batignolles ecodistrict.
“WATER CITY” OPENS IN LYONS. Designed to boost the younger generations’ awareness of water, where it comes from and its use in the home, this 250 square meter center in the heart of Lyons has already attracted more than 37,000 visitors since it opened on March 22, 2008.
Sydney Water Corporation awarded Veolia Water and AquaNet Sydney Pty Ltd Australia’s largest private wastewater recycling contract to supply a network of industrial and commercial clients.
Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank and winner of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, with whom Veolia Water recently established Grameen-Veolia Water Ltd, presenting an award to Antoine Frérot.
VEOLIA WATER, BEST WATER COMPANY OF THE YEAR Created by the trade magazine Global Water Intelligence (GWI), the annual Global Water Awards are presented in recognition of the innovation and commitment of companies and organizations working in the global marketplace to ensure water resources for future generations. In addition to the “Water Company of the Year” trophy, Veolia Water received two other awards including “Best desalination contract of the year” for the Marafiq project in Saudi Arabia. Currently under construction, it will be one of the largest desalination plants to use Sidem’s multi-effect desalination (MED) process. It will supply 800,000 cubic meters per day of desalinated water for the industrial city of Jubail and to the country’s eastern province.
18TH WORLD CONGRESS ON SAFETY AND HEALTH AT WORK IN SEOUL
FRANCE
Australia
Veolia Water was the first private water company to sign a declaration under the aegis of the International Labor Organization officially recognizing health and safety at work as a basic human right.
INNOVATIVE PARTNERSHIP
GERMANY
Mubadala Development Company, t h e l e a d i n g s ove r e i g n f u n d i n Abu Dhabi, UAE, specializing in commercial development and investment, and Veolia Water have created a joint company that will operate in the areas of water and wastewater in the Middle East and North Africa.
Veolia Water, as part of a consortium, has joined forces with the Springe municipal company (Stadtwerke) to improve management of the town’s energy and water distribution.
FRANCE OTV, a subsidiary of Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies, has been awarded two major design-build contracts by SIAAP, the wastewater authority for the Paris area in France. One of the contracts is to bring the Seine Aval wastewater treatment plant in Achères, the largest of its type in Europe, into compliance with the EU’s Urban Wastewater Directive. Under the other contract, OTV will build the second phase of the Seine Grésillons wastewater treatment plant in Triel-sur-Seine. The work will triple capacity and bring the plant into compliance with the European Framework Directive, which sets a target for the good ecological status of the River Seine.
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The year in brief
FRANCE
United States The 2008 Public-Private Partnership award, “Services” category, was presented to Veolia Water North America and the municipality of Gresham, Oregon. Presented by the National Council for Public-Private Partnerships, it recognized the innovative nature of the wastewater treatment processes and operational methods applied for the benefit of the population.
CONTRIBUTING TO SOCIAL PROGRESS The Cergy-Pontoise Council (Paris region) opted to continue working with Veolia Water and extended our company’s contract to manage its water production and distribution service for 18 more years. The contract combines resource preservation and environmental protection with economic and social progress, in particular through the introduction of “water vouchers” to help the most underprivileged residents pay their water bill.
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Veolia Water and the Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority signed the largest wastewater contract to date in the Middle East. It covers the finance, design, build and operation of two wastewater treatment plants for the cities of Abu Dhabi and Al Ain.
FRANCE Veolia Water is a member of the consortium that will operate the La Caserne dam for seven and a half years. The cornerstone of the project is to remove sand surrounding Mont-Saint-Michel.
PORTUGAL Artenius, a subsidiary of La Seda de Barcelona, the leading European producer of plastic used to manufacture bottles, opted for Veolia’s energy and water expertise for its new plant in Sines.
FRANCE
CZECH REPUBLIC F o o d a n d b e v e r a g e mu lt i n a t i o n a l SABMiller has chosen Veolia Water to manage the effluent from the country’s largest malthouse at the Pilsen brewery.
www.serviceclient.veoliaeau.fr, the new Web site for Veolia Water customers in France, was launched in June 2008. The newest function, a geolocalized section, aims to boost local information and transparency for consumers. The service will enable the 100,000 monthly visitors to see where their water is sourced, its quality parameter readings and the service charges in their municipality.
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st PPP contract in Saudi Arabia
Veolia Water AMI will manage the water production and distribution, and wastewater collection services for the city of Riyadh. This six-year contract is also one of the largest in terms of the number of people served (4.5 million), and the water and wastewater network lengths that Veolia Water manages (10,000 km and 4,500 km respectively). In the form of a management contract for the National Water Company, Veolia Water’s services will be paid according to an incentive system tied to performance and cost savings.
FRANCE TRIPLE CERTIFICATION FOR VEOLIA WATER In a global first for a water and wastewater company, Veolia Water’s (southern France) health and safety program, and its operational methods across all its activities (including the Maera Montpellier wastewater treatment plant) were awarded triple certification: ILO-OSH 2001, ISO 9001 and ISO 14001.
FRANCE A F I R ST I N T H E A R E A O F WAT E R A N D T H E ENVIRONMENT, Veolia Water (Paris Region) was awarded the French standards authority’s “NF Customer Relations Service Center” certification for its 500 employees’ high level of professionalism.
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The water cycles
Veolia Water manages all the water cycles with a focus on saving water and protecting resources
Build and maintain networks
Recycle wastewater for industrial applications
Provide desalinated water to cities and industry
Desalinate seawater
Produce and distribute drinking water
Manage raw water withdrawals Treat all types of wastewater Design and build state-of-the-art technology
Treat wastewater sludge Recharge aquifers Treat sludge for use in agriculture
Discharge treated wastewater into the environment
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Global operations
Taking up the challenges of growing urbanization worldwide
BREAKDOWN OF REVENUE BY GEOGRAPHIC AREA
BREAKDOWN OF WORK FORCE BY GEOGRAPHIC AREA
Asia-Pacific Asia-Pacific
Americas
10.6%
19.5%
6.1% 43.9%
France
9.9%
Africa, Middle East & India
32.4%
France
9.2%
Americas
8.5%
29.5%
30.4%
Europe (excluding France)
Africa, Middle East & India
Europe (excluding France)
OUR OPERATIONS
France
Angola Argentina Armenia Australia Austria
Europe
• Revenue: €5,515 million • Employees: 30,255 • People provided with water service: 24,572,491 • People provided with wastewater service: 16,889,804
• Revenue: €3,696.7 million • Employees: 28,324 • People provided with water service: 20,859,093 • People provided with wastewater service: 18,319,338
Belgium Benin Brazil Canada Chile China Colombia Côte d’Ivoire Czech Republic
Americas • Revenue: €769.6 million • Employees: 8,640 • People provided with water service: 6,848,125 • People provided with wastewater service: 5,891,765
Denmark
Asia-Pacific Africa, Middle East & India • Revenue: €1,242.6 million • Employees: 7,994 • People provided with water service: 6,594,937 • People provided with wastewater service: 2,887,671
• Revenue: €1,333.9 million • Employees: 18,220 • People provided with water service: 21,627,501 • People provided with wastewater service: 14,542,214
Ecuador Egypt Finland France French Guyana French West Indies Gabon Germany Guadeloupe Guam Hungary India Ireland Israel Italy Japan Lebanon Libya (Libyan Arab Jamahiriya)
Malaysia Mexico Monaco Morocco Namibia Netherlands New Zealand Niger Norway Oman Philippines Poland Portugal Reunion Romania Russia Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Singapore Slovakia South Africa South Korea Spain Sweden Switzerland Taiwan Thailand Tunisia Turkey United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States Venezuela Vietnam
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VEOLIA WATER
How can we manage pressure on water resources while maintaining
ďŹ rst-class quality of service?
By always working in close collaboration with our clients. Veolia Water is committed to guaranteeing systematically high performance of its water services. We are customer-focused and attentive to the needs of our public sector and industrial clients. Our goal is to meet current customer requirements, anticipate future challenges and provide a level of service that meets all stakeholders’ expectations for quality.
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Customers
Customer service based on innovation, rapid response and solidarity Veolia Water’s mission is to guarantee customers a quality of service that is as good as the quality of their water. In order to satisfy customer demands fully, we work closely with public authorities and constantly innovate. Ensuring customer satisfaction by paying close attention to feedback In a relentless effort to improve the quality of its services, Veolia Water is attentive to consumer feedback and monitors customer satisfaction. In accordance with Veolia Environnement’s Customer Service Commitments, opinion surveys are conducted regularly and the results are published in easily accessible formats so that customers can be
informed of improvements. For example, in 2008, an in-depth customer expectation survey was conducted in six of the eight Chinese cities where Veolia Water manages full-service contracts: Pudong (Shanghai), Shenzhen, Changzhou, Kunming, Haikou and Tianjin. The surveys revealed that Chinese consumers feel very concerned about the quality of their water, the depletion of water resources and the need to save water. The surveys
also identified water metering and communication as two areas for improvement and indicated that Chinese consumers consider direct contact with staff, rapid response and staff appearance to be key elements of a high-quality service. Focus on efficiency and information All opinion surveys tend to highlight how vital it is for consumers to have access to
Braunschweig,
In China, the satisfaction survey conducted in 2008 revealed that rapid response and staff appearance significantly influence the customer’s opinion of the quality of service.
readily available, professional personnel. To this end, we are focusing particularly on modernizing and improving our Customer Service Centers across the world, as was the case in Braunschweig in Germany in 2008. Beyond this, our goal is to achieve excellent customer relations. Efforts by the staff of Veolia Eau Banlieue de Paris, which manages water production and distribution on behalf of SEDIF, the Greater Paris water authority, have been particularly successful in this area. Our commitment to providing clearer, more-useful information also resulted in the implementation in 2008 of new Web sites for domestic customers. In France, for example, 100,000 customers a month visit these sites to check their water
consumption, view previous months’ bills, pay on-line, obtain information about work on their local water networks, and more. A “geolocalized” section provides information for consumers about the origin and quality of the water and the price of services in their local community. Committed to fostering responsible water consumption For Veolia Water, innovating to improve the quality of service also includes taking measures so it can serve its customers whatever their circumstances. This involves helping people with low incomes as well as raising awareness of the need to limit water consumption and consume it wisely. In spring 2008, Veolia
Environnement Morocco’s three operators (REDAL, Amendis Tangier and Amendis Tetouan) set up the “Saqayti” standpipe system in outlying neighborhoods where there are no individual connections to the supply network. The “Saqayti” standpipe distributes a fixed amount of drinking water to residents using a prepaid, subsidized system. In this way, Veolia Water contributes to rationalizing water distribution and avoiding waste. Lastly, we continued to implement our Consumer Service Commitments in 2008. This charter aims at providing a consistent quality of service to every consumer across the world and includes a provision for payment of compensation by Veolia Water if we do not fulfill our pledges.
a welcoming, user-friendly Customer Relations Center BS|ENERGY, a subsidiary of Veolia Water in Germany, is reaching out to its customers with a brand new Customer Relations Center right in the heart of Braunschweig. The premises are designed to be warm and hospitable and offer the flexibility of longer opening hours. Here, customers can obtain advice and information about their water bills, saving energy, water distribution, wastewater disposal, and so on. In a determined effort to reach out to customers, this center has a coffee and restaurant area and offers a variety of cultural events.
A first in the water and environment industry
Veolia Eau Banlieue de Paris awarded NF Service certification
IN JUNE 2008, Veolia Water Paris Region, which manages water services on behalf of SEDIF, the Greater Paris water authority, was awarded the “NF Customer Relations Service Center” certification by Afnor Certification. This particularly exacting standard is defined by consumer associations and customer relation experts. It rewards the high level of professionalism of the Customer Service Center’s teams as well as all other customer-contact employees (over 500 people in total) who work actively to fulfill the commitments made to 4 million SEDIF customers.
Water, communication and life: Veolia Water reinvents customer service in Braunschweig.
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Public authorities
Accompanying growing urbanization Veolia Water provides expertise in the management and operation of water and wastewater systems to public authorities the world over, mainly through public-private partnerships. Given the current pressure on water resources, the company plays a key role in the growing market for wastewater recycling and more generally in the search for alternative solutions. 2008 featured strong growth in the Middle East and the consolidation of our presence in the United States.
Public-private partnerships: an effective business model Water is a common good and water management serves the public interest. This is now truer than ever, as the world’s ever-growing population and increasing urbanization—more than half of the world
population now lives in cities—are putting mounting pressure on this vital resource. Public authorities currently face many challenges, including how to guarantee city residents a supply of good quality drinking water and how to achieve optimal wastewater recycling and management.
Veolia Water has been developing partnership relations for many years with public authorities under public service management contracts to serve these vital needs. Under this type of long-term contract, public authorities benefit from our expertise, managerial
Milwaukee, United States
An exceptional contract in wastewater service THE MILWAUKEE METROPOLITAN SEWERAGE DISTRICT (MMSD) selected Veolia Water North America to manage its regional wastewater service for 10 years. The system serves 28 municipalities in the Milwaukee area (1.1 million inhabitants) and is the largest wastewater service public-private partnership ever concluded in the United States. It covers the operation and maintenance of two wastewater treatment plants, sewers and a storage tunnel constructed to control wet weather overflows. It also includes the management of biosolid fertilizer production from the dried wastewater sludge generated at MMSD’s treatment facilities, a performance guarantee and the funding of a research program for the neighboring Great Lakes region. By end 2008, with record flows, our teams had already met biochemical standards for discharge.
One of the five plants of the Western Corridor scheme in Australia: the third largest water recycling project in the world.
and technological innovations and funding solutions. The efficiency of this business model has been well demonstrated. In a survey published at the beginning of 2009 that analyzes public-private partnerships since 1990 around the world, the World Bank concludes that services managed by private operators perform well, in particular in terms of improving the quality of the service and reducing wastage. In another econometric study published in 2008, the World Bank demonstrated that there was no significant difference between the tariffs applied by public and private operators. An operator that drives innovation Managing water services efficiently
is obviously even more crucial when resources are scarce. This is precisely why several public authorities awarded Veolia Water management contracts in 2008. For example, we signed the first water services public-private partnership in Saudi Arabia, which has a particularly arid climate. Under this six-year contract, we will manage water and wastewater services to the 4.5 million residents of Riyadh, which has undergone very strong economic and demographic growth in the last few years. Our goals include reducing wastage caused by technical problems, connecting more homes to the wastewater collection system, and ensuring a continuous supply of water (some areas of the city still only receive water once every four days).
INDIA: A THIRD SUCCESS AND A FIRST IN NAGPUR Veolia Water India’s latest contract with the city of Nagpur in central India seals its third success in the region. Our subsidiary won the contract for the design and construction (over 30 months) of a new water production plant with a capacity of 240,000 cubic meters per day. It also won the 15-year operation and maintenance contract for the facility, which is a first for Veolia Water in India. Milwaukee in figures: two wastewater treatment plants with a combined capacity of 2,385,000 cubic meters per day, 650 km of collection pipes and a 43 km long storage tunnel.
Several thousand kilometers away, in Queensland, Australia, the state government wanted to define and implement a wastewater recycling policy. The goal is to diversify water resources. The Western Corridor Recycled Water scheme will develop infrastructure to supply purified recycled water to the Swanbank and Tarong power plants. Here again, Veolia Water was selected as the operator for this project, which is the largest private water recycling scheme in the southern hemisphere. An underground pipeline will be built over some 200 km to transport treated wastewater to three recycling plants that apply advanced treatment processes (microfiltration, reverse osmosis, disinfection, advanced oxidation).
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Public authorities
KEY FIGURES
5,176 water production plants managed worldwide 3,140 municipal wastewater treatment plants managed worldwide
In mountainous areas, small-scale wastewater systems can be blended into the landscape.
Measuring our performance Public service management contracts are based on the sharing of responsibility. This guiding principle is upheld by Veolia Water, which actively provides public authorities with increasingly precise facts and figures on its results and performance. For example, we were closely involved in defining and promoting the ISO/TC 224 standards. These international standards apply to customer service and, more generally, water and wastewater services. The objective is to enable a comparison of the various different services around the world by developing genuine performance indicators and assessment criteria covering all aspects of water and wastewater services. The gradual implementation of these standards should strengthen contractual relations between Veolia Water and its partners.
Wastewater service: developing small-scale systems Veolia Water is convinced that small-scale wastewater treatment systems are a vital alternative to public infrastructure in some regions and continues to invest in this field. After producing a manual to help users and public authorities improve their knowledge of the technical, environmental and economic aspects of these systems, which provide sanitation for individual homes, we carried out further tests. In addition to on-site tests at 61 individual households in southern France, we approached ANEM, the national association of elected representatives from mountain areas in France, with a proposal to test independent wastewater systems in six villages at high altitudes. Our objective was to prove that it is possible to install this type of system even in tough
conditions. In short, whatever the terrain, geographical location or receiving environment, there is always a suitable solution available, for which the performance can be assessed. Our R&D is currently working on an independent wastewater system using membrane technology. In all, these developments in small-scale wastewater treatment signal a move toward improving control of wastewater’s impact on the aquatic environment.
certification agency Veritas and several associations of elected representatives. The manual, which will be published in 2009, will precede the application in 2013 of the 2006 European directive. Veolia Water also supports the schemes implemented by the marine clusters
Monitoring bathing water and respecting biodiversity At the request of public authorities, Veolia Water is developing devices that will continually assess the quality of bathing water. We continued with the tests set up in 2007 in France, Germany and Morocco and have also started compiling a reference manual jointly with
China
in Brittany and the PACA region (northwestern and southern coastal areas in France), which provide real-time, weather forecast-related information for various publics on the quality of bathing water. Several studies on respecting biodiversity, and especially protecting
ecosystems and natural resources, are also being conducted. For example, Veolia Water is contributing to the Brittany marine cluster’s NACRE scheme for environmentally friendly ship navigation, which aims at reducing pollution generated by sea vessels.
2008,the year of the Olympic Games A FEW YEARS AGO, with the 2008 Olympic Games in mind, Veolia Water signed several contracts for wastewater service in China, including the 25-year contract signed in 2003 with municipal utility Qingdao Drainage Company. Qingdao, a seaside resort located 700 km from Beijing, hosted the Olympic nautical events in 2008 and to this end, decided to improve its environmental performance. The contract covers the operation of two wastewater treatment plants serving this city of 2.3 million residents. It also includes upgrading existing installations and expanding the capacity of one of the treatment plants.
ABU DHABI INVESTS FOR THE LONG TERM Mubadala Development Company, the United Arab Emirates’ leading investment fund based in Abu Dhabi, focuses on investment in the Middle East and North Africa. As part of a strategic partnership, Mubadala has set up a joint venture with Veolia Water to provide water and wastewater services. The parties will work together under concession contracts and public-private partnerships. This alliance is the first stage in a long-term collaboration that aims at developing quality infrastructure to accompany the region’s rapid growth. The Qingdao plant. In 2008, Veolia Water served over 30 million customers in China, where it now has more customers than in France.
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Industry
A partner for industrial water projects For industrial companies, saving and recycling water and treating effluents are not core activities. However, given tighter technical, financial and environmental restrictions, they have to devote more and more attention to these issues. Veolia Water offers innovative, competitive and professional solutions to cater to the problems of its industrial clients.
Under increasing economic pressure… Water is an essential fluid for industrial activities, whether it is used as boiler feed, in cooling systems, for wash water, drinking water or process water. In 2008, higher energy and raw material prices as well as rising pressure on water resources brought the cost-saving advantages of industrial water cycle management to the fore. As well as having a constant supply of high-quality water suitable for their
needs, industrial companies also have to tighten cost control by ensuring maximum durability and flexibility of their installations. Stricter environmental regulations require them to limit their water intake from natural resources, while tougher legislation on the treatment of contaminated effluents has made recycling and materials recovery indispensible.
… industrial players use water to create value Thanks to our technological expertise —especially that of our subsidiary Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies (VWS)— and the on-going professionalization of our personnel, we can provide solutions to the increasingly complex issues faced by our industrial clients. The safety of their personnel and equipment is always central to our wide array of services,
Veolia Water treats the effluents at Schoellershammer’s paper factory in Germany.
which is a real source of value added for our industrial clients. In all cases, we guarantee an efficient service and an overall improvement in the cost-effectiveness of our clients’ treatment processes. We also offer assistance to companies that wish to incorporate environmental issues in their strategy. We provide comprehensive solutions that optimize processes and therefore form part of an industrial plan for environmental performance: carbon footprints are minimized and by-products of their treatment processes recovered and recycled as a resource or to produce cheaper energy. Comprehensive water cycle management As a result, several industrial companies
The pharmaceutical industry
The pulp and paper industry
A three-year
in Germany
outsourced services contract in Malaysia
Veolia Water has many clients in the pharmaceutical industry.
awarded us the management of their entire water cycle in 2008. For example, in Germany, Signet Solar, which specializes in the design and manufacture of photovoltaic cells, signed a full-service contract with OEWA, our German subsidiary. The contract concerns its new 60 MW plant and covers the design, financing, construction and operation of new facilities for water production and effluent treatment at its site. The water production facilities provide Signet Solar’s plant with cooling system water and process water that meets the sector’s regulatory standards. Veolia Water guarantees that treated effluents discharged into the natural environment meet environmental standards and also manages the removal of residues.
After a pilot project that lasted over 18 months, Pharmaniaga, Malaysia’s leading health care provider, awarded Veolia Water Malaysia a three-year outsourced services contract. The contract covers the entire water treatment cycle: process water (purified water and water for injection/WFI), wastewater, steam, cold water and cooling system water. A deciding factor in the client’s choice was the synergy between Veolia Water, as a specialist in service provision, and its subsidiary VWS’s Pharmaceutical Competence Center. The center supplies Orion®, a standardized purified water technology and associated services. Our acknowledged expertise in the pharmaceutical industry and our contracts in the multi-utility market also contributed to tipping the balance in our favor.
Forging lasting partnerships with our clients Though Veolia Water works with over 450 industrial clients in a wide variety of sectors, including with renowned international companies like Shell and Hynix, in 2008 we decided to focus particularly on the oil, petrochemical, energy, chemical and steel industries. We combine our expertise in water system construction and operation with our experience in project management to offer a four-stage solution: analysis of the existing situation, consulting, strategy definition and performance guarantee. We establish lasting partnerships this way and share the same objectives as each of our clients.
A resounding success SCHOELLERSHAMMER, WHICH IS LOCATED IN DÜREN, near Cologne, awarded Veolia Water the contract to extend and upgrade its effluent treatment plant. Every year, this paper factory produces 230,000 metric tons of paper of various kinds and generates nearly 1.5 million cubic meters of wastewater. Veolia Water will provide a comprehensive service covering the design, construction, funding and maintenance of an anaerobic effluent treatment system that should reduce effluent treatment costs by 30%. Indeed, part of the treated effluents will be reused in the paper manufacturing process and the biogas will be recovered to generate electricity. Schoellershammer is the fifth German paper manufacturer to transfer the management of its water cycle to Veolia Water.
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VEOLIA WATER
How can we make good quality water
accessible for all? Through our people’s expertise and our dynamic innovation and research. Veolia Water and its subsidiaries have a unique portfolio: our technological solutions and multidisciplinary expertise have become benchmarks for our industry. Today, we can respond to every kind of water problem for all of our client categories, and even anticipate their future needs.
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Solutions and Technologies
Technological innovation to improve water treatment
KEY FIGURES
€2.5 billion revenue generated in 2008 130 business units worldwide 8,900 employees, with 60% researchers, engineers and project managers
Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies (VWS), the world leader in water treatment, is the guardian of our technological expertise. It has an unrivaled portfolio of proprietary technologies and a decentralized organization, which guarantees flexibility and responsiveness. A partner to local public authorities For local public authorities, VWS provides expertise in the design and construction of the entire range of facilities for wastewater treatment, sludge treatment and water production. It also offers a wide range of technological solutions and associated services, while guaranteeing the environmental benefit of its treatment processes. In France, the
Nantes urban authority awarded VWS the contract to upgrade a wastewater treatment plant, which is a model in terms of environmental specifications: some of the treated wastewater is to be recycled to clean the site and wash the city’s municipal buses, the biogas produced will be used to heat the technical installations, and the energy needed to heat and light the plant will
be generated by the treatment process. The new plant, with a capacity of 180,000 population equivalent, will be equipped with the most sophisticated wastewater recycling and energy recovery technologies. For the Paris region wastewater authority, SIAAP, VWS is upgrading the Seine Aval wastewater treatment plant to the standards defined in the European Union’s
Anaerobic treatment of effluents
Unrivaled expertise IN 2008, Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies (VWS) expanded its range of expertise in industrial effluent treatment to include Biothane technologies. The Biothane UASB® and Biobed EGSB® processes are an efficient way of treating industrial effluents with concentrated chemical oxygen demand. The transformation of carbonated pollution into biogas gives rise to significant energy recovery.
And a partner to industry VWS also provides its expertise to industrial clients for the production of process water and the treatment and recycling of effluents, from standard equipment to the turnkey design and construction of facilities. Facing the increasing complexity of treatment processes, VWS’s technological expertise brings added value to all market sectors, including food and beverages, petrochemicals, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and pulp and paper. In Australia, VWS is to build a full effluent treatment plant for the new Woodside Pluto liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant. In Algeria, Uhde-ThyssenKrupp awarded VWS a contract to supply a treatment plant and a thermal desalination plant at a new ammonia/urea production plant in Arzew. In Hungary, VWS was selected by Dunapack,
Moving forward through innovation VWS has a unique portfolio of over 250 water treatment technologies, combining physico-chemical processes (Actiflo® Turbo and CEDI), biological processes (BiostyrTM, AnoxKaldnesTM, MBBR) and thermal processes (MED desalination, SOLIATM). With 8,900 employees, the company focuses its resources on technological innovation and the development of new solutions by drawing on multidisciplinary expertise.
REVENUE BY GEOGRAPHIC AREA
REVENUE BY MARKET SEGMENT
REVENUE BY BUSINESS ACTIVITY
12.2% 42.3% 37.3%
Public authorities
Europe
8.2%
Africa & Middle East Americas Asia-Pacific
Biothane solutions can be applied in many different industrial sectors: petrochemicals, chemicals, pulp and paper, and food and beverage.
that country’s leading paper manufacturer, to extend the wastewater treatment plant at its rapidly growing Dunaujvaros site, located 70 km from Budapest. To that end, two Biothane Biobed® EGSD reactors will be installed to add anaerobic treatment to the existing installations.
Directive on Urban Wastewater Treatment. Seine Aval is the biggest plant in Europe, with a capacity of 1.7 million cubic meters a day. VWS is also building the second tranche of the Seine Grésillons wastewater treatment plant to triple its capacity and upgrade it to the same directive’s standards with the aim of establishing good ecological status for the River Seine. In Poland, VWS was selected, as part of a consortium, by the public authority in charge of Warsaw’s water and wastewater services to upgrade and extend the Czajka wastewater treatment plant. It will also supply a turnkey thermal treatment plant for the sludge. In time, with a peak capacity of up to 435,000 cubic meters a day, Czajka will be Poland’s biggest wastewater treatment plant.
Industry
35% 65%
Design-build Technological solutions
31% 69%
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Networks and associated facilities
A wide range of networks Sade, Europe’s leading builder of water and wastewater networks, continued its growth in 2008, especially in international business. The company’s telecommunications activity increased strongly and the environment remained at the heart of its development.
2008, a very good year Our Sade subsidiary, a specialist in the construction, rehabilitation and maintenance of networks and their associated facilities, recorded its strongest performance in 2008 since its creation 24 years ago. The development of the telecommunications segment in particular was remarkable. With 20% growth in revenue
to €150 million in 2008, this sector benefitted from diversified demand: mobile telephony, fiber optics (via the sewer network) and broadband Internet. Sade participated, for instance, in the implementation of a trial Fiber to the Home (FTTH) network in France. International business experienced substantial growth. The pipe component of the Aftout Essahli hydraulic engineering
project in Mauritania was a major contributor, as was the construction of a water tower in Djibi, near Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire, which will supply water to 10,000 people. Another contributor was the contract to upgrade the water supply network in Armenia. Business in Europe also showed good growth, particularly Belgium. Sade now generates a quarter of its revenue outside France.
In the Paris region, widespread adoption of the
“ecological water connection” The “ecological water connection” concept took its first significant steps forward in 2008, with about 1,000 projects completed. Thanks to this concept, Sade can renew water connections without any impact on the environment. A small piece is cut out of the asphalt using a circular saw and set to one side. A truck extracts the soil, which is then treated and reinjected into the hole at the end of the operation. Afterward, the piece of asphalt is put back into its original position, leaving no trace of the work. Developed with the input of Sade employees, this system avoids having to send excavated materials to landfill and makes savings on quarry materials for use as backfill. It also reduces greenhouse gas emissions because no trucks or site equipment are used. Lastly, it is an excellent example of recycling. The system is therefore fully in line with our sustainable development policy.
Construction of a water tower in Côte d’Ivoire.
One of the showcase projects in France in 2008 was the Rheims light rail system, for which several Sade business units, working in perfect synergy, repositioned the water and wastewater networks. Ongoing innovation policy Business growth in 2008 was achieved in all of Sade’s target sectors, including installing and maintaining drinking water and wastewater networks (its traditional core business), civil engineering and special works (underground, trenchless,
mountainous areas, submarine, etc.). Through its in-house design and engineering department, the company continued its innovation program in 2008. In the environmental field, apart from developing “ecological water connections,” Sade installed a wind farm comprising about 30 turbines in the Eure-et-Loir département of north-central France for EDF Énergies Renouvelables. A long-standing partner to public authorities, Sade also works with industrial clients to equip their sites
During the cold spell,
KEY FIGURES
2008 revenue: €1.35 billion Growth in international business (excluding Mauritania): + 30% An active presence in 16 countries
The “ecological water connection” has already been used on 1,000 sites.
with environmentally friendly hydraulic installations and implement solutions tailored to their production requirements. All Sade’s work is carried out under strict accident prevention and safety rules. During 2008, three of its French regional departments achieved zero lost-time work accidents for over a year (Île-de-France Est, the Metering Department and the Borehole Drilling Department), as did the company’s subsidiaries in Romania and China.
outstanding reaction in the Paris region
During the intensely cold period that hit during the winter of 2008-2009, Sade responded to over 1,800 emergencies in the Paris region (Île-de-France). About 1,000 employees worked day and night, in particularly difficult conditions (temperatures falling to below –10 °C), to ensure continuous water service. All Sade’s skills were called into play, and the company’s employees did not hesitate to cancel their weekend plans and return to work. Crisis centers were set up in the regional departments to manage calls and emergencies (hospitals and retirement homes).
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Research and Development
R&D, the springboard for innovation Tomorrow’s solutions to the challenges of health, environmental performance and water quality that face mankind will emerge from today’s research and innovation. Integrated within Veolia Environnement’s network of 800 researchers, Veolia Water’s R&D is intensifying its efforts to find the necessary adjustments to a changing environment. Its developments cover the entire water cycle.
Improving the management of water quality How can the quality of the water in supply networks be ensured, now and in the future? This is one of the areas of focus in R&D. Following the new Annet-sur-Marne “Drinking Water” testing hall, which celebrated its first full year in 2008, we launched several projects, including the European Union’s Secur’eau program. The aim is to reduce the health risk in water supply networks by detecting pollutants using microsensors. This year, development of the Opaline® B process was finalized. It combines ultrafiltration on submerged membranes and adsorption on powdered activated carbon.
New progress in industrial effluents One of R&D’s objectives is to limit the impact of wastewater treatment facilities, especially those for industrial effluent, on ecosystems. 2008 was the first full year of Europe’s Aquafit program: by 2013, Veolia Water and about 15 public sector industrial partners (food and beverage, chemicals, pulp and paper, textiles) aim to develop processes to recover materials and recycle water. In addition, a decision-aid tool has been developed for treating complex effluents. It helps to calculate the risk of corrosion or deposits linked, for example, to the change in the effluent during treatment.
R&D also launched the industrialization of a system to describe the variability of an industrial effluent aimed at certain toxicity problems. This online system, which is based on UV spectrum measurement, triggers an alarm if variability in the effluent is detected. On Veolia Environmental Services’ Bouqueval site in the Paris region, work on treating leachates produced by landfills is nearing completion and may be used on heavily polluted industrial wastewater. Seawater desalination: trial platforms Seawater desalination is a major area of study. R&D has therefore set up several
WatchFrog
in vivo environmental assessment
With the WatchFrog system, frogspawn in pure water presents a green fluorescence.
Frogspawn that can warn of environmental impacts? That’s what the partnership we developed with WatchFrog believes. A spin-off from France’s national scientific research centre (CNRS) and the Natural History Museum in Paris, this start-up has developed in vivo biotechnological tools for various applications, including assessing environmental risks. One of the tools enables frogspawn to react to, for example, endocrine disrupters (which modify certain hormones in the organism). When the frogspawn is in prolonged contact with such an effluent, they develop a fluorescence that can be measured using a special analyzer. This method is five to 10 times faster than conventional tests.
Elements of the Opaline® S process now being industrialized. Opaline® B is an identical system but with biological capability.
platforms, including one in Toulon in 2006 for the development of innovative pretreatment solutions. A second test site is under construction in the Persian Gulf to help identify the best treatment train using reverse osmosis for seawater in that region. In addition, for each desalination plant operation contract, we install and manage pilot units to optimize the performance of the various processes. This enables us to improve the production units’ reliability and consumption of chemicals and electricity. Another step toward biorefining The biorefining concept consists of considering residues such as wastewater sludge as a source of renewable carbon. This is the objective of the Valoria program, through which Veolia Water and partners including France’s national scientific research center (CNRS) aim to create innovative recovery businesses in the form of high-value-added organic intermediate products (bioplastics, for example).
KEY FIGURES
About 20 patents filed each year 25 years: the age of Veolia Water’s Anjou Recherche center
FRANCE: R&D PROJECTS FINANCED BY THE FRENCH NATIONAL RESEARCH AGENCY In 2008, France’s national research agency (ANR) agreed to back five of our R&D programs: • Migr’Hicar: modeling change in hydrocarbons in a river (over 50% of river pollution alerts); • Adherist: inhibiting the formation of biofilms (mixed deposits: organic, bacterial and mineral) on the interior of pipes; • Cotedem: dewatering sludge using a process that combines physical chemistry and electrical power; • Debaciem: disinfection by ultrashort electromagnetic impulses; • Valoria: new treatment and recovery process for organic by-products generated by wastewater treatment.
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VEOLIA WATER
How can we act to
responsibly support all stakeholders? By nurturing a culture of collective commitment. The quality of Veolia Water’s activity depends on the professionalism of its employees. By steadily improving our management of their skills and safety, we reinforce their motivation and thereby contribute to the sustainable development of our company, its clients and its suppliers. Our people remain focused on the Millennium Development Goals for access to safe water and sanitation for all.
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Human resources
Optimize our people’s professionalism Because its business is primarily in services, Veolia Water continuously seeks to improve its personnel’s skills in order to satisfy its public authority and industrial clients. Its major human resources commitments—occupational safety, diversity and training—have gained new tools through the launch of job and skills planning, which will make our internal organization more efficient.
Better labor relations One of Veolia Water’s principle orientations in human resources management is to foster dialogue between labor and management. In 2008, several events combined to give this position more tangible form. A highlight in France was the signing of an intercompany agreement applying to all employees belonging to the Veolia WaterGénérale des Eaux Economic and Social Union. The agreement is the fruit of several years of labor-management negotiations. Under the agreement, approximately 15,000 employees in France have a common framework with simplified and harmonized rules,
for example on the principles of human resources management and on employee qualification and also classification. Veolia Water was an active participant in European labor-management negotiations and signed a total of 12 agreements. Occupational health and safety —improved performance Our efforts to improve occupational health and safety continued in 2008. As in the preceding years, these important areas were the targets of a continuous improvement plan. Veolia Water’s approach is guided by its objective of protecting its employees’ well-being
everywhere in the world. The measures introduced over the past few years have been successful, with the commitments respected and the stated targets in the occupational health and safety policy* reached. Thus, the frequency and severity rates of workplace accidents with time off continued to improve, falling to 12 and 0.37 in 2008 from 14 and 0.45 respectively in the previous year. Diversity: it’s actions that count Veolia Water has a policy on diversity and on maintaining a balance between different internal populations, in particular through its policy on hiring people with disabilities. For example,
Dialogue and listening, crucial in the professionalization of our people.
under its “Handicap et vie professionnelle” (disabilities and work) policy in France, 25 disabled people were hired in 2008. Five others were taken on as interns or hired on a temporary basis. A dedicated structure in the division is in charge of these hires. Employing the “training” lever For Veolia Water, training is also a major concern. Designed to develop professionalization through training, Veolia Compétences, first introduced in France, has been gradually expanded to other countries under partnership agreements on work-study programs. Again in the field of training, the United
Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have joined France, the Czech Republic, Morocco and China in having Campuses on their soil.
culture of service internally, and training plays a key role here. Veolia Water rolls out programs to instill a service mind-set in its employees.
A culture of service In a company like Veolia Water, it is the employees who guarantee that quality of service commitments are met. That is why everything is done to instill our
* This policy even got recognition from the International Labor Organization in 2008 since it made Veolia Water the first private company in the water sector to be invited to sign the Seoul Declaration recognizing health and safety at work as a basic human right.
KEY FIGURES
50% of the courses concentrate on safety Frequency rate of workplace accidents with time off: 12 Severity rate of workplace accidents with time off: 0.37
Learning P@TH®
93,433 employees
150 training courses at a glance
Learning P@TH®: access to online training facilitated for all of Veolia Water’s employees.
Start in the field to serve the field: that was the approach taken in developing Learning P@TH®. This software covers the 150 courses currently offered by Veolia Water and was engineered with a skills-based approach. All that its users, Veolia Water’s training managers, have to do is enter the skill required for a given position and the tool suggests the educational objectives along with resources for the instructor and the employee to be trained. This combining of resources saves time and improves information reliability. First tested in the Asia-Pacific region, Learning P@TH® was deployed in all Veolia Water regions in 2008.
Job and skills planning brings out talents
BEING CAPABLE OF PLANNING for human resources needs: what could be more natural for a company wanting to strengthen its position in its field? That is why Veolia Water launched its job and skills planning program. In a wide consultation with the business units, common standards were developed with the help of a specialized software program. The program, which should enable our managers to optimize their organization and bring out talents in their employees that will be valuable for their succession plan, was tested in several units prior to deployment throughout Veolia Water in 2009.
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Sustainable development
Respecting water means respecting humanity To contribute to meeting the Millennium Development Goals, Veolia Water directs its efforts and technological expertise toward facilitating access for the world’s poor to safe drinking water and sanitation. It takes the same sustainable development approach in its relationships with its clients, employees and suppliers.
Make water a sustainable resource Pressure on water resources increased again in 2008 in many parts of the world. To relieve this situation, Veolia Water applied its expertise and capacity for innovation to save resources and guarantee their quality. To save water, our first step is to increase supply network efficiency, and we do this through leak detection programs. At the same time, we concentrate on identifying and harnessing alternative resources, in particular by employing and operating wastewater recycling units (mainly for use in agriculture, but also for golf courses, for example) and desalination plants. This is the case in our Gold Coast, Australia, contract,
where the desalination plant was in the final construction phase in 2008 and Veolia Water will start operating it in 2009. Concentrate on access to water To help reduce the number of people without access to safe drinking water and sanitation, Veolia Water provides customized solutions in many countries, especially for the most vulnerable communities in such countries as Morocco, Niger and Bangladesh. Since the start of our contracts there, Veolia Water AMI (Africa, Middle East & India) has connected more than 1.5 million people individually to the network. Another 1.8 million people have access
to safe drinking water from the standpipes we have installed. Exemplary partnerships Veolia Water draws on a wide range of options to come up with alternative solutions for communities in which good quality water is not available. In Bangladesh, for example, almost all the groundwater is contaminated by arsenic, frequently at levels that are a serious threat to human health. The challenge in providing access to safe drinking water in the regions affected lies in solving difficult technical, economic and social problems. This led Veolia Water on a pioneering path in 2008, when it created a jointly owned company with Grameen
Grameen-Veolia Water Ltd was created to help supply safe drinking water to the poor in rural Bangladesh.
Healthcare (the Grameen Bank subsidiary concerned with hygiene and health). In the first project, Grameen-Veolia Water Ltd will invest in the construction of five production and treatment plants to bring safe drinking water to 100,000 people at a price they can afford to pay. All profits
will be reinjected into the project to finance its expansion. The marriage of the “social business” concept developed by Professor Muhammad Yunus, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, and the expertise of Veolia Water should help translate the right to water into
Niger
Water and Health
Practicing good hygiene improves water quality and stems the spread of waterborne infectious diseases.
Along with its mission of producing and supplying water for the country’s 52 urban centers, the Société d’Exploitation des Eaux du Niger (SEEN) plays an important social role. With its parent company, Veolia Water AMI, and the Health Department of Veolia Environnement, it decided to hold internal and external educational campaigns on all waterrelated public health questions. A total of 550 people were trained to educate the public about best practices.
FRANCE: TURN CONSUMERS INTO ECO-CITIZENS On November 17, 2008, Veolia Water and Pas-de-Calais Habitat, the leading operator of social housing in the northern French département (38,000 apartments and houses), signed an agreement on “Water: acting for sustainable development.” The purpose of the partnership is to join forces to reduce consumers’ water usage and convince them that they have a role to play in preserving water resources. The four-year agreement calls for communications campaigns about water, the appointment of a water solidarity mediator and a technical program of individual usage tracking with automated meter reading.
access to safe drinking water. In Portugal, another type of partnership enabled Águas de Valongo, which manages water and wastewater services for the city of Valongo, with a population of 90,000, to win the prize for the “Best Company in the Sector
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Sustainable development
The Clay Lane Environment and Education Center attracted over 200 schools to its classrooms in 2008 and makes visits to close to 80 schools every year.
for its Environmental Performance.” The recognition came from an organization run by the Portuguese water and waste regulator (IRAR) and cites the company’s overall management of the municipal wastewater system, its awareness campaigns for the local communities and its creation of the first customer service charter for wastewater in Portugal. In 2005, Águas de Valongo
was among the signatories to a protocol for an environmental study of the watershed with the government commission for coordination and regional development of northern Portugal, the Valongo municipal council and the University of Porto. The protocol included modeling water quality, which, in a partnership with Veolia Water, will make it possible to identify the most appropriate
treatment methods for the particular environmental context and to incorporate them into the plan to expand the wastewater treatment plant managed by Águas de Valongo. Respect for all stakeholders Veolia Water stresses respect for its employees and suppliers at all levels. In 2008, this translated into several actions:
in Morocco, REDAL became the first company providing water and wastewater services and electrical power to obtain OHSAS 18001 certification for its management of occupational health and safety. Furthermore, the Veolia Water program for the social advancement of its suppliers, first implemented in 2006 in Morocco and Gabon, was adapted to
the context in Niger in 2008, where it will gradually be rolled out. Through this program, Veolia Water AMI ensures that the same quality working conditions are provided by its subsidiaries and its subcontractors. In Europe, OEWA, Veolia Water’s subsidiary in Germany, obtained the “Business and Family Audit” certificate for its sustainable policy on reconciling
its employees’ work and family life. Lastly, Veolia Water makes a point of educating school children about environmental questions: in 2008, our British subsidiary Three Valleys Water celebrated the tenth anniversary of its Environment and Education Center, which attracts over 6,000 children from the region’s schools.
Partnership with the
Institut Océanographique Paul Ricard
ALTHOUGH REVERSE OSMOSIS DESALINATION techniques have improved considerably, we need to know more about the impact the brackish water that results from the treatment has on marine life. Therefore, Veolia Water joined forces with the Institut Océanographique Paul Ricard in southern France, to conduct studies on this question. Approved by the PACA marine cluster, this world first will further experiments that have already been conducted in this field.
Protecting our coasts from wastewater discharges
One of the objectives of the management contract the city of Tangier has had with Veolia Water subsidiary Amendis since 2001 is to improve water quality in Tangier Bay.
Launched by Veolia Water for the PACA marine cluster in southern France, the integrated coastal wastewater discharge management project involves two modeling tools that communicate with each other: the land tool (along with the wastewater and stormwater networks) and the sea tool. The device is being deployed at several sites, where it should help in crisis prediction so that bathers can be warned. This would improve their safety and at the same time protect marine biodiversity. A number of coastal cities have already expressed interest in the project: in 2008, the city of Tangier, in Morocco, signed a partnership agreement with the two pilot sites of Toulon and Antibes.
The Ile des Embiez, site of the Institut Océanographique Paul Ricard.
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France 52, rue d’Anjou 75384 Paris Cedex 08 France Tel.: + 33 1 49 24 49 24 Fax: +33 1 49 24 69 59 Europe 36-38, avenue Kléber 75116 Paris France Tel.: + 33 1 71 75 00 00 Fax: + 33 1 71 75 10 45 Africa, Middle East & India 52, rue d’Anjou 75384 Paris Cedex 08 France Tel.: + 33 1 49 24 49 24 Fax: + 33 1 49 24 69 59 North America 200 East Randolf Drive Suite 7900 Chicago, IL 60601 United States Tel.: + 1 800 522 4774 Fax: + 1 281 449 1500 Asia-Pacific 21/F AIG Tower 1 Connaught Road Central Hong Kong Tel.: + 852 2167 8206 Fax: + 852 2167 8101 Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies “L’Aquarène” 1, place Montgolfier 94417 Saint-Maurice Cedex France Tel.: + 33 1 45 11 55 55 Fax: + 33 1 45 11 55 00 Sade 28, rue de la Baume 75008 Paris France Tel.: + 33 1 53 75 99 11 Fax: + 33 1 53 75 99 02
www.veoliawater.com
Veolia Water 52, rue d’Anjou – 75384 Paris Cedex 08 – France – Tel.: + 33 1 49 24 49 24 – Fax: + 33 1 49 24 69 59 This document was prepared by the Veolia Environnement Corporate Communications Department. Photo credits: Stephen Wilks/Getty Images, Veolia Environnement, Veolia Water, Veolia Water North America, Veolia Water AMI, Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies and Sade photo libraries; Christophe Majani d’Inguimbert; Laurence Danière; Alexis Duclos; WatchFrog; Munem Wasif; Alexandre Dupeyron; Eric Frotier de Bagneux; Paula Bonneau; Imagence/MG Design/ Syndicat Mixte Baie du Mont-Saint-Michel; Schoellershammer; SA Paul Ricard/Bruno Mazodier; Patrick Rousseau. Infographics: Idé Conception/design and production: Writing: Didier Le Gorrec Translation: Alto
This document was printed using plant-based inks on Satimat Green paper, made of 60% recycled fibers and 40% FSC virgin fibers. Satimat Green paper is FSC, PCF, ISO 14001 and ISO 9001 certified. The FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) is an international non-profit organization constructively encouraging socially, environmentally and economically responsible initiatives in forest management, by making them distinctive and credible through a label on products sourced from certified forests.