Rainwater collectors: growing success in the face of the water crisis

In many gardens, the water collector now sits at the back of the house or a shed. “There, it’s not really highlighted because it’s in a corner with pallets and all that,” smiles Marie-Cécile Wetzel. She takes care of this shared garden in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. That day, it rained. She still demonstrates.

The 1,000 liter tank is half full, even after summer. She has been in this garden for almost ten years. Enough to water the plants, even when the city water is cut off. Marie-Cécile plans to install a second water collector. "That means consuming more rainwater rather than city water. It's city water that we have. Plus, there are no gutters there, and when it rains, it's almost muddy. So that would help clean up the soil," she believes.

The first rains are ideal for sales of water collectors. Geoffroy Philipon, salesman and installer at Aquacollect, recently distributed them near Nancy. “The 200 collectors that we offered to the residents left in just two days during the month that was proposed,” he says. “Every year, we break records. In addition, this year, there was the fire part, where the recovery of rainwater for the firefighters can make the work easier because instead of coming from one place, everyone could be a source of water.”

And it's not just a question of season. The water crisis, worsened by the scorching summer, is motivating individuals to store rainwater. Many communities therefore offer subsidies or preferential rates for individuals who want to equip themselves. This is the case in the Greater Paris Seine et Oise conurbation. Its president, Cécile Zammit-Popescu, wanted to encourage an economical and ecological solution: “For us, it was really the idea of ​​being able to save water and not spending drinking water on watering. If we arrive at this figure of 450 to 600 homes, we are looking at savings of 15,000 to 20,000 cubic meters of drinking water per year,” she explains.

The equivalent of eight Olympic swimming pools: a volume far from negligible in an area affected by water restrictions.