In Toulouse, 6 million liters of water collected in a swimming pool to water parks and gardens
It’s a back-to-school tradition, in the wake of the summer season. Every year in September, the Alfred-Nakache swimming pool in Toulouse is emptied. But this year, due to an exceptional drought, the water in the basin will not be lost.
A ballet of tank trucks has been active since September 1 around the municipal summer swimming pool, whose chlorine treatment has been stopped. Located on the Ile du Ramier, this Art Deco style pool, built in the 1930s, is presented as the largest in Europe, with its 150 m long and 50 m wide.
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“The heater leads us to ask ourselves questions”
“For nearly a century, this pool has been emptied at the end of the summer, without asking any questions. This year we said to ourselves: Why not recover the water? »explains the LR mayor of Toulouse, Jean-Luc Moudenc.
The aedile recognizes that the “Global warming and everything that is happening, leads us to ask ourselves new questions, and to find solutions”.
Young trees, fountains, public gardens…
About 500m3 from 6,100m3 of water from the basin have been pumped since Thursday, according to Olivier Perez, assistant to the head of the technical field at the sports department of the town hall.
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“To make it suitable for watering, we stopped treating the water from August 29, and waited for the natural evaporation of the chlorine which occurs in contact with the air”he explains.
“This water will be introduced into a certain number of parks, gardens where recent plantings have been made, in particular (to water) young trees, which are less than three years old and which have suffered a lot with the heat wave this summer”adds Jean-Luc Moudenc.
Fountains or ponds in public gardens will also be supplied with water from this swimming pool, which can accommodate more than 3,000 people a day in summer.
Are other pools affected next year?
In the square Charles de Gaulle, behind the Capitol, in the heart of Toulouse, Luc Sirven has just received a tank truck from the Nakache swimming pool. The technical agent of the town hall is delighted to water the shrubs, after the “real lack” of water for the last few weeks.
The initiative involves additional costs for the town hall, indicates Jean-Luc Moudenc, without however specifying the amount. But the mayor says he wants to repeat the experience next year, perhaps by widening the scope of action to other municipal swimming pools in Toulouse.