Joint workshop on Enhancing efficiency and sustainability of Water Supply and Sanitation presentation - Benoît Fribourg-Blanc, Supporting household owners: SPANC, France

1. Supporting household owners: the SPANC
Item 5: Zoom-in on challenges in small and rural municipalities
Benoît Fribourg-blanc
Eng. MS© - EU Project Manager, Expert on UWWTD
16th June 2021
…the French Public service for
“non-connected waste water treatment systems“
© OIEau

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Benoît Fribourg-Blanc– OECD Workshop “enhancing sustainability and efficiency of WSS provision”, 16 June 2021
TITRE PAGE
 A big country: 643,801 km² - 67 Million inhabitants
 A centralised country with 36,000 municipalities
 Wide diversity of landscape and climate conditions
 106 inhabitant/km² (uneven distribution: 4 to 20,000 inhabitant/km²)
 a long lasting wastewater management policy
• 46 Mio inh. in agglomerations >2,000p.e.
• 8 Mio inh. in agglomerations <2,000p.e.
• 13 Mio inh. in rural areas
• 21,000 UWWTP
• 5 Mio NCWWTS
I. France in a nutshell
https://www.populationdata.net/2019/01/
22/67-millions-habitants-france-2019/
Population density, 2019

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Benoît Fribourg-Blanc– OECD Workshop “enhancing sustainability and efficiency of WSS provision”, 16 June 2021
II. The legal framework
 Framed by the Water law (1992):
• Municipalities have to delineate areas
• where they have or will implement in the future sewer networks and associated
treatment plants
• where NCWWTS are necessary, and detail the authorised treatment types (soil
infiltration tests)
• Municipalities have to create a public service (SPANC) dedicated to NCWWTS by
31/12/2005 at the latest (NOTA: in line with art3 of UWWTD last deadline*)
 Enriched by Water Law 2006 and environment law 2010:
• first control for all existing installations by SPANC at the latest 31/12/2012
• In 2009: a decree to fix technical prescription of all installations treating <1,2kg/j BOD5
• In 2009: a decree on accreditation of desludging activities
• In 2012: a decree to fix the method to be used by SPANC to control NCWWTS
 Law on Territorial Organisation and four Decrees to regulate:
• establishment of NCWWTS public services
• Recommendation for the type of NCWWTS applied
• Guidelines on the use of NCWWTSs
• Accreditation scheme for NCWWTS and for de-sludging activities
*Where the establishment of a collecting system is not justified either because it would produce no environmental benefit or because it would
involve excessive cost, individual systems or other appropriate systems which achieve the same level of environmental protection shall be used.

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Benoît Fribourg-Blanc– OECD Workshop “enhancing sustainability and efficiency of WSS provision”, 16 June 2021
II. NCWWTS: what it is?
NCWWTS are sanitation facility ensuring the collection, transport, treatment
and disposal of all domestic wastewater (except rainwater) from buildings not
connected to a public wastewater collection network. (Source: Arrêté of 7th September
2009 modified by arrêté of 7th March 2012)
Mostly installations <1,2kg BOD5 (ie 20p.e.)
In 1992: 4 treatments defined in a law of 1982 with technical rules
In 2016: 650 accredited treatment types
Collection and transport treatment discharge

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Benoît Fribourg-Blanc– OECD Workshop “enhancing sustainability and efficiency of WSS provision”, 16 June 2021
Since 1992, municipalities are in charge of controlling NCWWTS but:
- the service must be self financed (control fee)
- More than 18,000 municipalities <500 inh. with no or limited technical staff
period 1992-2004: progressive creation of SPANC, focus on control of new installations
2004 – 2012: revision of the framework:
- Not 100% of municipalities covered --> push towards inter-municipal services
- Extension of SPANC mission:
- Mandatory: diagnosis of existing installation every 4 years: equipment, functioning, maintenance, and
when house is sold,
- Optional: maintenance of installations, desludging and treatment of sludge
- More management/guidance by the French MoE: portal, multiannual work programme,
guidance, accreditation system for NCWWTS and for desludging activities…
2012 - today:
- National prescription for control by SPANC
- Progressive increase of population covered by a SPANC (today 57Mio)
- Increase of accredited authorised NCWWTS (2012: 100, 2016: 650)
III. NCWWTS public services: evolution

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Benoît Fribourg-Blanc– OECD Workshop “enhancing sustainability and efficiency of WSS provision”, 16 June 2021
IV. NCWWTS public services: current situation
Source: Boutin C. 2017. Assainissement non collectif Le suivi in situ des installations de
2011 à 2016. available at : https://urlz.fr/bzMR
 2,919 services
 347 services ensure optional mission(s)
(maintenance, desludging, sludge treatment)
 57 Mio inhabitant covered
 32,900 communes
 >650 systems accredited (planted filters,
compact filters, micro stations…)
 No national cost
• Cost of control: 100-300€
• Cost of maintenance: 30-50€
• Cost of desludging: 100-300€
Source: Observatory of public water and wastewater services,
performance in 2018. available at : https://bit.ly/3iLJOmd
Population covered by a SPANC in 2016

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Benoît Fribourg-Blanc– OECD Workshop “enhancing sustainability and efficiency of WSS provision”, 16 June 2021
V. NCWWTS public services: lessons
 Bad performance of NCWWTS can represent a significant pressure on surface
and ground water
 NCWWTS are situated in private properties: need a strong and clear legal
framework
 NCWWTS are small systems: individual monitoring not relevant, but control of
equipment, maintenance and functioning
 Individual household owners need a clear technical framework (possible
systems, rules for installing and maintenance…)
 Inter-municipal cooperation allows sharing cost and recruit dedicated
technicians

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Benoît Fribourg-Blanc– OECD Workshop “enhancing sustainability and efficiency of WSS provision”, 16 June 2021
VI. NCWWTS public services: challenges
For the future some challenges are:
- Improve knowledge on performance of NCWWTS
- Renovate the existing installations (cost, subsidies…)
- Improve the maintenance
- Reduce impact on surface water

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Benoît Fribourg-Blanc– OECD Workshop “enhancing sustainability and efficiency of WSS provision”, 16 June 2021
 Contact
 Benoît FRIBOURG-BLANC, benoit.fribourg-blanc@oieau.fr
15 rue Edouard Chamberland, 87065 Limoges Cedex - Tél : +33 (0)5 55 11 47 90 (et 70)
Thanks for your attention
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