Eau de Paris (Paris Water) is the publicly owned company responsible for the public
water supply
Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. Th ...
and
waste water
Wastewater (or waste water) is water generated after the use of freshwater, raw water, drinking water or saline water in a variety of deliberate applications or processes. Another definition of wastewater is "Used water from any combination of do ...
collection for the city of
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
.
History
In 1985,
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac (, ; ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and 1986 to 1988, as well as Mayor of Pari ...
, then
Mayor of Paris
The mayor of Paris (, ) is the Chief executive officer, chief executive of Paris, the capital and largest city in France.
The officeholder is responsible for the administration and management of the city, submits proposals and recommendations to ...
decided to transfer the municipal water service into the hands of three private entities with a direct contract and without a public procurement procedure. The property of water wasn't formally transferred and was kept as a public
common good
In philosophy, Common good (economics), economics, and political science, the common good (also commonwealth, common weal, general welfare, or public benefit) is either what is shared and beneficial for all or most members of a given community, o ...
. Eau et Force and Compagnie des Eaux de Paris had a 25-year concession for the distribution and customer services respectively related to the right and left banks of the
River Seine
The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres p ...
.
In 1987, the water production and transport were delegated for a 25-years period to SAGEP, a semi-public company owned by Ville de Paris (70%) and Suez & Veolia (28%).
Eau de Paris was created in 2008 after a ballot initiative from then Mayor
Bertrand Delanoë
Bertrand Delanoë (; born 30 May 1950) is a French retired politician who served as Mayor of Paris from 2001 to 2014. A member of the Socialist Party (PS), he previously served in the National Assembly from 1981 to 1986 and in the Senate from 19 ...
. The city's water was then substantially managed by two private companies (
Veolia
Veolia Environnement S.A., branded as Veolia, is a French transnational company with activities in three main service and utility areas traditionally managed by public authorities – water management, waste management and energy services. In ...
and
Suez
Suez (, , , ) is a Port#Seaport, seaport city with a population of about 800,000 in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez on the Red Sea, near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal. It is the capital and largest c ...
) which the municipal government bought out.
Operations
The company distributes 563,000 m³ of drinking water a day. In 2010 the company began installing drinking fountains dispensing
fizzy water in the city.
See also
*
Pavillon de l'eau
The Pavillon de l'eau () is a museum devoted to water belonging to the Paris, City of Paris and managed by Eau de Paris, the municipal agency in charge of production and distribution of water in Paris. The Pavillon de l’eau offers a permanent e ...
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Water companies of France