Contributing to the protection of health and lifestyle
The World Health Organization claims that 25% of preventable diseases are linked to the environment. Urban hygiene and a reduction of diffuse pollutions,contribute to keeping a healthy and balanced environment that protects everyone's wellbeing.
Environmental health is an important aspect of Veolia Environnement's businesses.
Performances
Health in urban areas is a fragile but vital task to maintain the wellbeing of all inhabitants. Factors damaging to health tend to concentrate in modern cities such as an increase to chemical exposure in daily life, infectious agents such as legionella, and degradation of outdoor and indoor air quality. Therefore a sustainable city must be clean and healthy.
Veolia Environnement contributes to this through better management of waste, preservation of the quality of drinking water and treated water released into the natural environment, and reduction of nuisances related to transportation and energy distribution infrastructures.
Water quality, from the source to the tap
The hospital concentrates risk factors related to hygiene in a limited and closed space.
2.3 billion people suffer from poor water quality; 1.96 million die every year from diarrhoea type diseases mainly related to water.
Water quality plays a fundamental role in health , in terms of food but also for hygiene (body, clothes).
Therefore supply of drinking water must be maintained at all times and sanitary checks should be carried out.
Controlling health risks
Sanitary risks with drinking water are related partly to microbiological risks (bacteria, virus, parasites), and also to chemical risks (arsenic, fluorine, nitrates, etc.). The entire challenge of water control consists of monitoring a large number of different substances continuously (and not just after treatment).
Therefore, Veolia Water is implementing approaches conforming with Water Safety Plans, so as to have preventive management of sanitary risks related to upstream water quality affecting the supply.
For example, the HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) method provides a means of evaluating sanitary risks on the input side of the water intake, taking account of potential risk factors (plants, farm activities, etc.) as far as the consumer's tap. This approach is now being deployed on facilities operated by Veolia Water.
Veolia is involved in implementation of the REACH regulation
Veolia Environnement has initiated an active approach to meet the requirements of this new regulation that involves several of the Group's divisions.
Reducing pollution upstream
In addition to the conventional sanitary monitoring of water, Veolia Water is working to reduce water contamination by organic materials, since organic contamination is a source of bacterial proliferation, and interaction between such bacteria and chlorine can have harmful long-term effects on health.
Veolia Water also offers complete analyses of their process to its industrial clients to encourage recycling of water, raw materials and to limit polluting releases.
Veolia's R&D management is concentrating its efforts particularly on saline industrial effluents that are very widespread and complex to be treated (for example polluted water from landfills).
Sanitation essential for health
Without sanitation, wastewater that is returned directly into the environment pollutes natural aquatic environments and threatens the quality of drinking water produced downstream.
Sanitation also provides a means of significantly reducing exposure to some diseases such as diarrheic diseases.
The health impact of sanitation also has an effect on the quality of bathing water, for which the economic risks for example for tourism are large.
Reducing atmospheric pollution
Many diseases (cancers, allergies and lung diseases) are directly related to atmospheric pollution
Towards real time modelling of atmospheric dispersion of pollutants.
Contribution of public transportation to urban air quality
Veolia Transport contributes to reducing local pollution in city centers by encouraging the development of public transportation, management of transportation systems running on electrical energy and providing vehicles with particle filters or biofuels.
In Australia, Veolia Transport is the first company working in this sector to be officially recognized by local Australian authorities as having a high performance ecological policy.
Its vehicle maintenance program, designed to improve air quality by reducing emissions from diesel vehicles,
received the "Clean Fleet" accreditation in September 2007.
Controlling emissions of pollutants from incineration plants
Veolia Environmental Services is working to continuously improve the treatment of exhaust gases from waste incinerators.
Since 2005, investments made to apply European standards, particularly demanding in terms of emissions, have considerably reduced the residual health hazard related to emissions from waste incinerators.
In 2007, the quantity of pollutants emitted per metric ton of incinerated waste dropped by 15% for SOx, 3% for NOx,
1 % for HCI, and remained stable for dust particles.
Preventing the development of legionella
Christian Cochet, at the Centre scientifique et technique du bâtiment
The awareness of the indoor air quality on health's impact exist thanks to work on environmental health.
Veolia Energy-Dalkia has implemented a specific methodology with its clients, particularly in hospitals and tertiary sectors, to measure and manage the risk of legionella developing in their facilities.
Indoor air quality : an emerging challenge
Veolia Energy-Dalkia is assisting its clients in controlling and improving indoor air quality, by operating and maintaining zones with a controlled atmosphere, disinfecting forced air ducts, and performing biological and physicochemical tests for continuous monitoring of air quality.
Veolia Energy-Dalkia also has a unit specialized in controlled atmosphere environments used in many industrial sectors and that require a particularly high air quality, such as microelectronics, food processing and pharmaceuticals.
The development of high energy efficiency buildings will reinforce the need to test indoor air quality.
Veolia Energy-Dalkia is continuing important R&D programs in this field. These concentrate particularly on cleaning and disinfection techniques for air distribution systems, and the definition of health thresholds and air quality indicators based on specific measures.
Degree of commitment of Veolia Environnement
