Research & Development
Research and development plays a central role in Veolia Environnement sustainable development policy.
It enables the Group to stay one step ahead of future needs and to implement efficient technologies and services tailored to our customer's expectations.
Research & Development: A Priority
The Veolia Water research and development programme as a whole has a budget of £44 million, which enables us to meet the changing needs of our customers and the water industry.
Veolia Water has established partnerships with national ministries and international organisations, as well as over 40 agreements with major universities and research establishments throughout Europe. Veolia Water owns over 3000 patents..
Veolia Water research strategy is structured around ten key areas, covering the entire water cycle:
- Management of water resources
- Treatment and disinfection of drinking water
- Membrane technologies
- Water quality monitoring
- Network management
- Standard domestic water treatment equipment
- Domestic and industrial wastewater treatment
- Sludge treatment and management
- Wastewater re-use
- Desalination i.e. The removal of salt from water so that it can be used for drinking or irrigation.
A worldwide network
Veolia Environnement employs over 600 research workers worldwide whose aims are to design new processes to meet customer needs, to satisfy environmental and public health requirements and to improve the company's overall performance.
Our water research facilities are led by "Anjou Recherche", established in 1982. Anjou-Recherche's mission is to develop tomorrow's new products and technologies for Veolia Water, to respond to the needs of municipal and industrial water and wastewater markets.
We have research centres at Maison Lafitte and Saint Maurice in France. Maison Lafitte covers all aspects of water and wastewater treatment. Saint Maurice investigates new laboratory techniques, resource management and sewer network management including modelling.
Anjou-Recherche's global reach builds upon a network of over 450 researchers working in Europe: Anjou-Recherche (France), KompetenzZentrum (Germany), Three Valleys Water (United Kingdom), North American Technology Center (Canada) and Windsor (Australia).
Veolia Water UK is a centre of excellence in the Veolia Water Group for water resource management and distribution network management. Research in the UK is carried out using either staff within our water companies or in collaboration with external research organisations, e.g. Water Research Centre (WRC).
Finally, Veolia Water UK participates actively in Group research, and provides Client Managers to the UK Water Industry Research Council (UKWIR) and participates in many steering groups.
The main priorities within the United Kingdom are protecting and managing drinking water supplies, disinfection treatments and water quality and the development of techniques to repair and replace water infrastructure in the most optimal way.
Many projects are carried out across the spectrum from desktop studies to full pilot plant construction and we are currently actively undertaking or participating in some 30 R and D projects.
Clay Lane Membrane Plant
The world's largest ultra-filtration membrane plant at the time was officially opened at Three Valleys Water Clay Lane site in June 2000.
The plant was constructed by a Veolia Water Solutions & Technologies company, formerly OTV.
Our worldwide research and expertise in membrane technology and water treatment ensures that our customers receive high quality water. £10 million was invested in this project, and as a result Three Valleys Water now supplies high quality water to over 3 million people in North-West London and surrounding areas.
Since its opening, the Clay Lane membrane plant has been visited by numerous water specialists from countries around the globe including the Czech Republic, Australia, Japan, America, India, Germany, France, Norway and China.
