Protecting the oceans

Every year, 8 to 12 million tonnes of plastics and micro-plastics are dumped into the oceans. The safeguarding of the oceans is played out on land. Today we command the technologies to collect, recycle and recover plastics and wastewater. To transform this waste into resources is to enter into the circular economy. Thanks to this new model, the preservation of the oceans becomes possible. It is a simple decision.

Our solutions

We offer solutions to control water quality, limit pollution sources, including plastic waste in particular, and protect and restore coastlines. Here are a few examples:

Fighting water pollution by micro-plastics

While treatment plants represent a barrier to water pollution, certain types of pollutants are able to get through traditional filtration systems. This is the case with the microfibers used in our clothes. Thus, we launched Ecoseastem, the first-ever research program that looks into pollution by microfibers. Operating a purification station at Nice-Haliotis, we teamed up with the Nice Côte d’Azur city authorities, the MED Expédition NGO and the Villefranche oceanographic laboratory.

The aim of the program is to characterise the pollution caused by plastic microfibers, to assess the impacts of this pollution on the natural ecosystem and to identify the best available technologies to treat this type of pollution, such as dynamic microfiltration.

Offering concrete solutions to Mumbai for its growing wastewater problem

Mumbai, with a population of more than 15 million, has seen intense urbanization and population growth over the last few decades resulting in increasing pressure on water resources. Wastewater management has emerged as a key concern area for the local authorities as a major portion of wastewater flows into the sea thus polluting the coastline.

The existing sewage infrastructure consisting of a 1,500 km network which collects 1.7 million m3/day is inadequate to treat the increasing quantity of sewage water. To address this issue, Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai has launched the Mumbai Sewage Disposal Project (MSDP) Stage-II Master Plan that covers the development of wastewater treatment and facilities by 2025 to meet the projected flows.

In 2016, MCGM awarded SUEZ the contract to design and build the Colaba Wastewater Treatment facility as part of a program to develop its sanitation infrastructure to meet the needs of a growing population. The plant is under construction currently and once completed will be followed by 15 years of operation.

Business case –Colaba STP, Mumbai

Monitoring sea water quality

In Barcelona (Spain), the municipality has installed the COWAMA water quality monitoring system along the city's beaches. This control system is used to identify the main sources of pollution, in real time and to anticipate water quality along the beaches. Using the iBeach app, this information on water quality can be sent to citizens who want to see the water temperature, flag colour, UVA radiation level and even whether jellyfish are present.

COWAMA-SUEZ-Control bathing water

Controlling discharges of wastewater and rainwater into the natural ecosystem

AQUADVANCED® Urban Drainage proposes a step-wise offer to optimally and transparently manage sanitation systems. The range offers operators and local authorities an all-inclusive tool to protect the environment, people and property, while also achieving an optimal economic balance by anticipating risks of flooding and pollution, protecting the natural environment, cutting operating costs and making use of existing assets and past investments.