Historic Project in France

Commune De Saint Julien De Concelles

This historic village nestled on the banks of the Loire River near the French city of Nantes on the Atlantic coast of France is the site of the latest Flovac system in Europe.

The site is first mentioned in history books as far back as the year 615 where is started life as a Roman town.  Ruins of a villa and ancient Roman baths can be found in the area. Vacuum sewers have been used in a number of area’s where there is such architectural significance as a way to ensure no damage is done during the construction of the sewer. Often during construction, significant finds may take place which the vacuum system can avoid by going around  at a safe distance without holding up works.

The town is in the heart of an important agricultural area and has very flat and sandy soil, ideal for a vacuum system. It is also known as the town that first developed the beurre blanc sauce, often used in french cuisine. There are also vines on the hills around the town that grow a muscadet wine that is very popular.

The project size is quite small with the Flovac system connecting 168 houses with 100 collection pits and 4 km of vacuum pipework.

It is important when doing installation work into existing townships that there is very little disruption to the way of life for the people in the town. One of the best reasons for utilising a vacuum system is that the trenching for the pipework is very narrow and in an area such as this, there is no need for dewatering as the installation stays above the water table. This ensures that the water table is not changed and so there is no detrimental affect on local agriculture.

The system is able to be installed with only a single vacuum pump station which is also important in an old town like Saint Julien in that space is a precious commodity. It was also important to keep energy use as low as possible, and with a single small vacuum pump station, this is possible.

The Saint Julien project is the first project in France that has incorporated the Flovac wireless monitoring Information about the monitoring systems can be found on our french webpage. https://www.assainissement-sous-vide.fr/

The project is just the latest for Flovac’s partners in France, LSE who have had a long history with vacuum systems.

In June we were finally able to attend the national water and wastewater show in Paris which had unfortunately been delayed due to terrorism in the capital. It was attended by Flovac’s chairman Mr Willem Gooren as well as local Flovac managers Philippe and Nicolas Frasier.