A l'UM la science [S02-ep18]: From water to early childhood

This week, A l'UM la science gets a head start on World Water Day. Julie Mendret, researcher at the European Membrane Institute talks to us about Reuse and Omar Samhari welcomes us for a report on the membrane filtration hall atIEM. At the end of the program, Brahim Azaoui, lecturer at the Faculty of Education, presents the study days: Early childhood: languages, multimodality and plurilingualism held in Montpellier from March 15 to 18.

I'll start with a figure: 32 - the number of consecutive days without rain in France between January and February. A sad record according to Météo France, which had never recorded such a series since measurements began in 1959 . In the Eastern Pyrenees, the situation is so worrying that last February, the prefecture decided to place all its communes under a state of "reinforced alert". This means reserving water for uses considered "essential", i.e. no more swimming pools, washing cars or watering stadiums. This drought is taking place against a backdrop of recurring water shortages since August 2021, and above all in the middle of winter, a period when water tables normally recharge and reach their maximum level. Although water has been falling from the sky again over the past few days, it's not certain that this will be enough to prevent the Eastern Pyrenees from reaching the ultimate threshold, that of "crisis", when water use would be strictly reserved for drinking water supply, and for uses linked to "hygiene, health and safety". Faced with this problem, other countries have taken the lead, particularly in the South. For years now, they have been focusing not on rain dances, but on Reuse. Julie Mendret is our guest. She is a researcher at theEuropean Membrane Institute (IEM) and a specialist in reuse.

Read also:

  • Drought: " Wastewater reuse alone cannot solve the problem ", Le Monde, 7/03/2023
  • Drought and wastewater reuse: in France, new impetus and obstacles to overcome, The Conversation, 4/12/2022
  • Wastewater reuse: what will the new European regulation change?, The Conversation, 15/03/2022
  • Urban wastewater reuse using a coupling between nanofiltration and ozonation: Techno-economic assessment, Chemical Engineering Research and Design, 2019,

In the second half of the program, we stay at the European Membrane Institute and, more specifically, at the membrane filtration hall, a platform for the implementation of different filtration techniques operating from bench-scale to pre-industrial units. Omar Samhari, a post-doctoral researcher atIEM , shows us how reverse osmosis can be used to desalinate seawater and turn it into drinking water. 

Finally, our last-minute guest comes to us from the Faculty of Education. Brahim Azaoui is a senior lecturer, and he tells us about the study days on "Early childhood: languages, multimodality and plurilingualism" organized at the UM with the University of Le Mans and the AFalaC association from March 15 to 18.

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Coproduction: Divergence FM / Université de Montpellier
Animation:
Lucie Lecherbonnier
Interviews:
Lucie Lecherbonnier / Aline Périault
Reporting and editing: Aline Périault
Production: Naomi Charmetan

Listen to the program "A l'UM la science" on Divergence FM 93.9


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