How to have drinking water with deteriorating pipes? Vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) can emanate from PVC in some drinking water pipes.
In Douchy-Montcorbon, studies have been undertaken to establish a diagnosis of the network, i.e. more than 40 km of PVC pipes, laid in the 1960s. They follow the discovery in 2016, by the Regional Health Agency (ARS), of CVM, classified in group 1 carcinogens.
Last week, the town hall of Douchy-Montcorbon invited the inhabitants to an informative public meetingconcerning the presence of VCM in water and the recommended solutions.
Heavy work with a colossal cost
An information note was placed in the mailboxes of citizens, asking them not to drink the water unless they had boiled it. Are concerned “mainly the hamlets where the water flow is not sufficient“, specified the municipality on its Facebook account.
Two terminals have been made available to residents, one in Douchy behind the pharmacy, the other in Montcorbon on the main square.
Since 2016, analyzes and studies have made it possible to establish the points to be addressed as a priority and to quantify the necessary work. The town hall launched calls for tenders and, last January, the choice fell on the group ADA Réseaux Merlin TP, for an amount of 3.7 million euros excluding tax.
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The Department, the Seine-Normandy Water Agency (AESN) and the State have been asked to allocate subsidies. The Department would subsidize for 93,246 euros, the AESN for 532,832 euros and the State for 200,000 euros.
“So we just have to leave?”
The municipality then proceeded to seek financing by borrowing the rest of the amount. But faced with the magnitude of the sum that would paralyze the budget of the municipalitythe city council voted in the negative.
The public meeting aimed to find a solution to this situation. On the one hand, the ARS recommends stopping water consumption, given the high rate of CVM in certain sectors of the municipality. On the other hand, the cost of the work cannot be assumed by the municipality, without going through a severe increase in the price of water for all. All the inhabitants are concerned in the face of a loan that is suffocating municipal finances.
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So far, no solution has been found. : the inhabitants concerned will be able to have water delivered. For those who cannot move, the caution instructions remain unchanged. “So, all we have to do is leave?”, laments a resident.