THEME 5: COASTAL ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT

Coastal towns have made huge efforts at improving the collection and treatment of waste water. Bathing water is however especially sensitive to quantitative and qualitative variations in discharges associated particularly with changes in the weather. Major storms can bring about a temporary drop in water quality.

By paying particular attention to weather forecasts, GIRAC aims to optimise the real-time management of water treatment plants. Veolia, IFREMER, members of the Littoralis network and Météo France are working together to produce complex modelling designed to lead to a user-friendly, water network management system.

Four differently configured coastal sites will be used to test the GIRAC system – Brest and Saint-Malo in Brittany, and Antibes and Toulon in the PACA region. GIRAC will be an invaluable water quality information tool for users. It will also be a decision-making tool for local government officers who are required to extend water services networks or modify treatment techniques. Around 2010, the incorporation into national legislation of the new European directive on bathing water quality, adopted by the European Council on 15 February 2006, will strengthen the need for a system such as GIRAC in countries of the European Union. Other interested locations include the major coastal cities of southern Europe, Asia and South America.

GIRAC PROJECT PARTNERS

Companies 

• Veolia Eau, based in Brest, is the project leader. The water division of Véolia Environnement is the world’s leading water services supplier, operating in 55 countries. In France, Veolia manages the water services of more than 8 000 local authorities. With over 3 000 patents to its name, it is also a key player in research in this field.
• Littoralis is a group of companies created within the Brest Iroise Technopole. Three of them are taking part in the project
• HOCER, based in Brest, is developing systems for measuring water and air quality capable of detecting organic substances, even at very low concentrations.
• NKE Electronics, based in Hennebont (56), is well known in the world of competitive sailing with its equipment being used by the top skippers. NKE Instrumentation designs and manufactures field measuring equipment for oceanography and environmental studies.
• Le Pôle Analytique des Eaux de Brest (Brest Water Analysis Service) has a laboratory approved for environmental analyses and, in particular, for studies of catchment basins.

Research centres 

• IFREMER in Brest, whose missions include the improvement of surveillance, protection and development measures within the coastal marine environment, will be lending its skills and expertise to the project in the areas of hydrodynamic modelling and knowledge of the bacteriology of coastal waters.
• Météo France in Saint-Jacques de la Lande is committed to adapting its services to specific requirements, such as managing rises in water levels.

Local authorities 

• The cities and towns of Brest, Saint-Malo, Antibes and Toulon are joining the project to trial the GIRAC tools.
• The GIRAC project is being developed in collaboration with PACA Maritime Cluster in order to take account of the specific climatic and oceanographic conditions of both seacoasts, as well as to share skills and costs. Veolia Eau, NKE Electronics, IFREMER and Météo France, who operate in both regions, are also partners of GIRAC PACA.

Contacts

marie-marguerite.bourbigot@pole-mer-bretagne.com
jacques.legrand@pole-mer-bretagne.com