Veolia, SAUR, SUEZ, etc. There are different water distribution and supply companies in France, but it is not possible to choose. Each household must, in fact, subscribe to the service that serves its municipality. It is therefore useless to try to compare water prices and try to find the best offer. On the other hand, it remains essential to have all the necessary information on your water supplier and the rates applied in your municipality before settling there.
Who are the water suppliers in France?
Individuals cannot freely change water supplier as they could change energy supplier . There are, however, many water suppliers in France, but each of them serves specific municipalities. Who are they and how do you know who serves your municipality?
Water, a sector closed to competition for individuals
It should first be remembered that water is a service closed to competition for individuals . This was also the case for electricity until 2007. In concrete terms, this means that there is only one water supplier per municipality . It is therefore the latter who holds the monopoly of the management, distribution and supply of water in its service area – no other supplier is present in this territory to compete with it, which also means that the Individuals can only change supplier if they move to a municipality served by another distributor.
Veolia water supplier logo
Veolia is one of the main water suppliers in France, serving more than 26 million drinking water consumers in the territory. The Veolia group specializes in the management of water, but also waste and energy. The company has been supporting cities, communities and industries in these three sectors for more than 160 years .
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Suez is also a major water distribution and supply company. The group is present all over the world, but France is its first country of activity, knowing that nearly 40% of its workforce is based in France .
Suez has a history of over 130 years . This began with the creation of the company Lyonnaise des Eaux et de l’Eclairage (SLEE) in 1880. In 1870, the mechanical construction workshop Degrémont was also created , taken over in 1904 by the son of its creator who added a specific offer for water treatment. Degrémont then becomes Degrémont – Water Treatment . Finally, in 1919, the Société Industrielle de Transport Automobile (SITA) was created following a competition launched by the city of Paris for the construction of traction vehicles intended for the collection of household waste. And it was in March 2015 that all these groups – Lyonnaise des Eaux, Degrémont and SITA – became Suez.
Suez is therefore today a major international group present in various sectors, including water and waste management.
Saur water supplier logo
Saur or Société d’Aménagement Urbain et Rural is a water supplier created in 1933 by entrepreneur Pierre Crussard . Originally, it was a construction company. But, relying on the network of EDTE ( Company of Transport and Distribution of Electricity – today Bouygues Energies and Services ), Saur develops its first water management activities in the West of France. .
A true defender of water, Saur aims to make water available everywhere , including rural and coastal communities. The provider began with the town of Villejoubert (Charente) in 1934, with only 27 subscribers . Today, it is one of the main large water management companies in France, managing 5,700 water contracts in no less than 6,700 municipalities, and supplying more than 7 million consumers with drinking water in rural and peri-urban areas. Saur is even present internationally, particularly in Africa, Europe, Asia and South America.
As explained above, water is a sector that is not open to competition. To better detail this, you should know that the distribution of drinking water in France is a public service entrusted to local authorities . The latter then have the choice of how to manage this service: either they delegate it to private companies such as Veolia, Suez or Saur, or they directly carry out this mission with their own resources.
It is in this second case that we speak of independent management or direct management. A municipality can, in fact, decide to manage the water and sanitation services itself, with its own budget and personnel. This is the case of Eau de Paris , Eau du Bassin Rennais or Eau d’AZur Nice, for example