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#5 SOFTENING OF THE FOILLETS WATER SOURCE

The Foillets water source is measured at 26-29f° (French degrees) hardness, which classifies it as relatively ‘hard’ water. Although it poses no risk to human health (on the contrary, hard water is rich in mineral salts and satisfies a large part of calcium and magnesium requirements), hard water can nevertheless cause damage to infrastructure, in particular because of the limescale deposits that clog the pipes of some households and clog their machines.  

The water from the Foillets spring is collected directly above Commeire (1600m altitude). Its flow rate varies between 2 and 5 litres per second with peaks of 10 litres.

ISSUE

To overcome this problem, some individuals have equipped their water supply with water softeners. However, these are private initiatives, at the discretion of each household.  

Instead of dealing with the problem individually, i.e. household by household, is there a global solution that would allow the Foillets spring to be treated as a whole, at the first reservoir above Commeire at 1530m?

DESIRED AREAS OF INNOVATION

  • The solution should reduce the hardness of the water in the Foillets to 10-12 degrees; 
  • Global solution, which can be adapted to the flow of the source (flow rate of 2-5 litres per second);
  • Limited space available at the catchment (m2); 0m2
  • Space available at the Commeire reservoir as per attached photos
  • Easy to implement and low maintenance solution;
  • The implementation of a scalable and connected system that would allow for data feedback or analysis or even the integration of other processing systems would be a plus

MATERIALS AND DATA AVAILABLE

CONTACT

Jean-Daniel Tornay

Water service

027 782 62 77

service.eaux@orsieres.ch

Rue de la Commune 3
1937 Orsières

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THE CHALLENGE LEADER

Situated between the Val Ferret and the Val d’Entremont, Orsières is on the Swiss side of Mont Dolent, the border between Switzerland, France and Italy. The commune’s water service is responsible for 5 water networks, supplied by various sources. The water network measures approximately 70 km and serves 3064 inhabitants.