Chapter Four:   President Louis Lagrange summarises 10 years' work

4.5   "From the point of view of bacteria, it was established that the most pronounced contamination occurred during the summer season.  Without being over-critical, the situation was alarming.

4.6   The local authorities and their agencies took note of the imperative necessity to undertake action before the situation became worse and even irreversible.  This is how our Syndicate was born, and on this 10th anniversary, it befits us to retrace the work which we have undertaken together and to put together an account of our achievements.

4.7   We will do this very briefly.

4.8 A vast programme of sanitation work was conceived by the Bridges and Roads department. It consisted of the construction:

of a network of sewage pipes encircling the lake to collect waste water and converging at the mouth of the lake upon a treatment station which discharges its treated water into the river Fier, and

of a plant for processing household waste attached to the waste water treatment station in order to reduce discharges in proximity to the lake, which constituted one source of pollution.

4.9  Besides, the Prefect, having drawn the attention of the Ministry of the Interior to the absolute necessity and the extreme urgency of completing these works, has accelerated the process and accomplished numerous formalities within this Ministry in order to obtain the inclusion of these works in a capital investment programme subsidized at a very favourable rate.

4.10  From the time of accepting the overall draft sanitation project for consideration by the Ministry of the Interior, i.e. in 1960, a tender was held amongst specialized enterprises for the construction of the two plants, one for the treatment of wastewater and one for processing of household waste.

4.11  It should be noted that at this point in time, such a project was far from commonplace not just in France but in neighbouring countries too."

4.12   "In order to have a precise idea of the installations already completed by the enterprises which had submitted proposals and to be able to judge on site the methods employed, a Special Commission composed of members of the Syndicate and engineers from the Bridges & Roads department visited the few existing plants:

Stations in Colombes, Rennes, Dunkerque, Calais, Villeurbanne (France)

Stations in Delft and Schiedam (Netherlands), Rickmansworth and Colchester (Great Britain), Bienne and Uzwil (Switzerland) and Munich (Germany).

4.13  At the beginning of 1961 the commission has made a final decision in favour of the projects presented by the Société Général d’Epuration et d’Assainissement in Paris:

Plant for the treatment of household waste (composting method)

Plant for treatment of waste water (activated mud method)

4.14  The construction of the plant for treatment of household waste was completed in two steps:

Physical treatment by pulverization (from June 1961 to June 1962)

Biochemical treatment by aeration with air (from January 1962 to July 1963)

4.15  The plant was designed for a maximum capacity of treating 120 tonnes a day. It is worth noting that since it was put into service the tonnage treated has been constantly increasing. As of today it is between 60 and 65 tonnes a day.

4.16  A first phase of the work on the waste water treatment plant was constructed from January 1962 to June 1964. It was designed to cope with a population estimated to reach 100,000 (including industrial equivalents) by 1970. The construction of the second phase is scheduled for 1970.

4.17  As far as the sewer pipework is concerned, the first part of work was carried out in June 1961. Actually the construction of sewage mains was carried out simultaneously on the two banks either side of the lake. The collector on the right bank now reaches as far as the centre of Veyrier-du-lac and last November 20 a new branch as far as Menthon St Bernard was approved. The pipe on the left bank will come very close to the border of Saint-Jorioz."

4.18  "In parallel with this has been the construction of sewage pipes in the communes. On this subject  it was decided to prioritise the collectors bordering the lake which served the biggest communities in order to eliminate as quickly as possible all discharge of effluent into the lake. To date nearly 35,000 metres of pipework has been installed.

4.19  The pace of works, which was previously based on an annual allocation of 2 million French Francs, has since 1966, thanks to the vigorous intervention of the Prefect, been increased to 3 million FF i.e. a 50% uplift. Therefore, despite numerous difficulties encountered with various owners of private property in relation to the passage of collectors through their land, we hope that the complete encircling of the lake will take place in 1970 and that the year 1973 will see the completion also of the secondary pipework. The total amount of funds allocated to this programme to date has risen to 20,540,000 FF.

4.20  Even though we are benefiting from a significant government subsidy of 35% (this level has been able to be maintained thanks to the understanding of the municipal councils of the communes participating in the Syndicate who have accepted to set their tariff for the sale of water on a base proposed by the Syndicate) the costs of borrowing weigh particularly heavily on communes other than the town of Annecy, which has constructed its own sewage network. And so, as we stand half-way through our work, the cost of loan repayments has risen to nearly 25 F for each inhabitant.

4.21  The construction of the sewer pipes implies the connection of properties along the route as and when construction proceeds. The Syndicate, not having any longer its own technical department, has delegated the maintenance of the sewage network to the town of Annecy. For 18 months the technical department of the town of Annecy has carried out a considerable number of connections - nearly 500 (each building in Annecy-le-Vieux and Cran Gevrier was counted as one connection).

4.22  We would point out that our achievements must have been exceptional because we receive regular visits from elected representatives and technicians from all parts of the world. At random in our guest book we read the names of visitors from Great Britain, Italy, Yugoslavia, Greece, Romania, Egypt, Iraq, Philippines, Argentina etc. Don’t we therefore also perform a service for the reputation of our region as a tourist resort?

4.23  At the beginning of 1966 it appeared opportune to establish a scientific study of the lake just as the construction of the sewer mains was getting under way. This is intended to allow us to understand the evolution of pollution, to determine the causes and take appropriate remedial measures. Despite the heavy costs which weigh on their budgets, the participating communes have willingly consented to an extra financial effort taking into account help which the Water Technical Department of Lyon has given in 1966."

4.24  "Two general meetings to disseminate information, mainly open to the communities, administrations and associations who are particularly interested in the protection of the lake, were held at the offices of the Syndicate on 22 December 1966 and 13 November 1967. The specialist laboratories of THONON (Centre for geodynamic research and lake hydrobiology [nowadays called 'INRA']) who were charged with the work have presented their results. The Pasteur Institute which is associated with this work has established a bulletin of the health of the lake.

4.25  The results of these studies indicate that lake Annecy is actually a sick lake. It will therefore be necessary for these studies to continue in order to allow us in the years to come to judge the effectiveness of the sewage system as and when it is put into service. However the continuation of these studies will not be possible if we do not receive significant help from the Haute Savoie Department and the government.

4.26  But that does not stop the mission of our Syndicate which quite naturally, has become a periodic meeting place for the mayors of communes around lake Annecy. During the course of these meetings new problems have arisen concerning the whole of the watershed of lake Annecy. It is for this reason that recently our Syndicate was transformed into a Syndicate with multiple purposes in order to allow it to carry out all the tasks which will be asked of it and to obtain, we hope, the additional subsidies for which it could apply.

4.27  Finally, the Prefect has informed us that the State cannot any longer bear the costs of maintaining the public landing stages – navigation around lake Annecy no longer has a commercial but rather a tourist nature. In these circumstances it is suggested that the Syndicate takes over these costs from the state.  This question is now under consideration.

4.28  In the short term, thanks to the intervention of the Chief Engineer of the Department of Bridges and Roads, the Minister of Equipment has allocated a one-off credit to be used in 1967 to overhaul those landing stages whose public access was under threat of being lost.

4.29  In addition the town of Annecy has given the Syndicate the job of constructing a slipway destined for the repair and the maintenance of pleasure boats voyaging around the lake. This construction, whose project plan has been approved quite recently, will be situated in a port complex which the Sevrier town councillors have proposed to develop in collaboration with the Syndicate. On this subject we will allow ourselves once again to make another appeal, Mr Secretary General, to your generosity  to plead our cause with those Ministries capable of giving us the necessary financial assistance which is indispensible for this first lakeside construction."

4.30   "Consequently, it has become necessary to make a draft project in general for the lake comprising a census of all the territory bordering the lake.  In this way we will have a complete over-view which will enable us to organize our studies and management work in a coherent way.

4.31   With your agreement,  Secretary General, the Director of the Department of Equipment has kindly offered to take on this work and for this we thank you most warmly.

4.32  In a few moments the Director of Equipment will give us an overview of the state of progress with this project.

4.33  Our mission is exciting!

4.34  Whatever challenges lie ahead in our work of cleaning the lake, whether they occur in the course of our work, or in the different ways in which we can add value to our lake, we remain conscious of the difficulties that await us.

4.35  The dynamism, respect and good-will which reigns in the heart of our Syndicate will help us to surmount them.

4.36  Before finishing I would like to thank all the administrators and departmental directors who have given support to our work."

Continue Reading   Chapter Five