Facing a Future of Drought, Spain Turns to Medieval Solutions

nytimes.com

10 pointsjeffwass2 comments

I read an article about France and apparently HALF of all the water that they produce is lost because of leaks in the pipes.

Countries with bad infrastructure are going to suffer a lot.

I agree about the importance of better infrastructure but I had to check this 50% loss number.

Water distribution efficiency in France was actually 81.5% in 2021.[1] Which means 18.5% is lost to leaks. The figure often given is 20%, maybe taking into account the error margins of the studies.

According to another study from 2019 [2], it's actually similarly or more efficient than other rich countries in Europe (losses of 21% in the UK, Belgium 27%, Italy 34%). The author of the study says that according to experts reaching efficiency above 85% is extremely difficult. [2]

[1] https://www.services.eaufrance.fr/rapport-national (Synthese, p.2)

[2] Good article about the study (link to PDF inside) : https://www.banquedesterritoires.fr/distribution-deau-20-de-...

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