Re-Use Bonifacio Meetings
The city of Bonifacio is organizing a Mediterranean event on Tuesday, June 13, 2023 to promote the reuse of treated wastewater in coastal areas.
A sustainable solution
Faced with the increasing number of water stress situations caused by climate change, and in order to preserve water resources and the Mediterranean marine ecosystems, the reuse of treated wastewater is a solution that deserves to be generalized for wastewater treatment plants located in coastal areas. Indeed, this could allow a better management of this precious resource that is fresh water and avoid any discharge into the sea.
A new European regulation
In June 2023, a European regulation on the reuse of treated wastewater for agricultural irrigation will come into force. This is an opportunity to study and extend these uses.
Bonifacio, pilot city in France for the Reuse of treated wastewater
Thanks to the support of the State and the Collectivité de Corse, in 2018, the City of Bonifacio was one of the first in France to implement the reuse of part of its treated wastewater for watering the Sperone Golf course in Bonifacio. Thus, one third of the city's wastewater is reused for watering the Sperone golf course, the rest being evacuated into the Port of Bonifacio. Since January 2023, the City has been working with the State and the Collectivité de Corse to extend this system of reusing recycled water to new uses for municipal services (street cleaning, cleaning of pleasure boats, watering of green spaces, etc.), firefighting services, socio-professionals (farmers and tourism professionals) and industries in the commune.
“Re-Use, Les Rencontres de Bonifacio”: a process that involves the inhabitants of Bonifacio
As a leading city of tourism in Corsica, Bonifacio is recognized as an exemplary city in the preservation of its natural and cultural heritage. To do this, the city is careful to involve its inhabitants in the implementation of its sustainable development policy. Thus, every year for the past 9 years, Bonifacio hosts a public event on the theme of water: "The Odyssey, from snowflake to wave", organized by Ophelia David, eight times world champion skier, and Stephanie Rideau of the Water Family association. This year, this "Odyssey from snowflake to wave" will take place from Saturday, May 27 to Tuesday, May 30, 2023 and will allow to raise awareness of the need to save water resources.
A conference intended for the inhabitants of Bonifacio and the representatives of the partner associations of the "Odyssey from snowflake to wave" will be organized on Tuesday, May 30th, at the end of the day, to present the stakes of the reuse of treated wastewater, the solutions implemented elsewhere in the Mediterranean, the reuse of treated wastewater by the Golf of Sperone in Bonifacio and the project of extension of this practice by and for the city of Bonifacio. Some of the speakers of June 13 will be mobilized for this conference.
Before the 23rd COP of the Barcelona Convention
At the end of 2023, the 23rd COP of the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and the Coastal Region of the Mediterranean - the so-called Barcelona Convention - will be held in Slovenia. Working towards the adoption of a resolution i) providing for the reuse of this treated wastewater from water treatment units located in coastal areas ii) while ensuring an equitable sharing of this resource is an achievable ambition.
Contribute to the PAMEx, the "Action Plan for an exemplary Mediterranean in 2030"
In September 2021, during the IUCN World Conservation Congress, Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic, initiated an Action Plan for an exemplary Mediterranean in 2030: the PAMEx. To finance the actions necessary to achieve the objectives defined by this plan, a financial facility for local authorities in the Mediterranean has been initiated by the R20 Foundation and launched by a Mediterranean consortium: the PAMEx Local Investment Facility (PLIFF).
Objective 13) of the PAMEx is to: "Adopt strong measures, including providing adequate funding, to establish adequate urban sewerage networks, wastewater treatment plants and waste management systems to avoid pollution from wastewater discharge and runoff and the introduction of waste, including plastic waste and microplastics, into waterways." The reuse of treated wastewater in coastal areas contributes to this objective.
The operational launch of the Exemplary Mediterranean Plan 2030, with its "financial facilities" component, offers real investment opportunities for Mediterranean coastal cities.
