Science at UM [S02-ep18]: From water to early childhood
This week at UM, science is getting a head start on World Water Day. Julie Mendret, a researcher at the European Membrane Institute , talks to us about Reuse, and Omar Samhari welcomes us for a report from the membrane filtration hall, also atIEM. At the end of the program, Brahim Azaoui, senior lecturer at the Faculty of Education, presents the study days: Early Childhood: Languages, Multimodality, and Multilingualism to be held in Montpellier from March 15 to 18.
To begin with, I will provide you with a figure: 32. That is the number of consecutive days without rain that France experienced between January and February. A sad record according to Météo France, which had never recorded such a streak since measurements began in 1959. In the eastern Pyrenees, the situation is so worrying that last February, the prefecture decided to place all of its municipalities on "high alert." In other words, water was to be reserved for uses considered "essential," meaning no more swimming pools, car washing, or stadium watering. This drought comes at a time when water shortages have been recurring since August 2021, but more importantly, it comes in the middle of winter, a period when groundwater normally recharges and reaches its maximum level. Admittedly, it has been raining again for the past few days, but it is not certain that this will be enough to prevent the Eastern Pyrenees from reaching the ultimate threshold, that of a "crisis" where water use would then be strictly reserved for drinking water supply and uses related to"sanitation, health, and safety." Faced with this problem, other countries have taken the lead, particularly in the South. For years, they have been interested not in rain dances but in reuse, or REUT in French. Julie Mendret is our guest. She is a researcher atthe European Institute of Membranes(IEM) and a specialist in reuse.
See also:
- Drought: "Reusing wastewater alone cannot solve the problem," Le Monde, March 7, 2023
- Drought and wastewater reuse: in France, new momentum and obstacles to overcome, The Conversation, December 4, 2022
- Reuse of wastewater: what will change with the new European regulation?, The Conversation, March 15, 2022
- Urban wastewater reuse using a coupling between nanofiltration and ozonation: Techno-economic assessment, Chemical Engineering Research and Design, 2019,
In the second part of the program, we remain at the European Membrane Institute, specifically in the membrane filtration hall, a facility that allows various filtration techniques to be implemented on a scale ranging from laboratory bench to pre-industrial unit. Omar Samhari, a postdoctoral researcher atIEM , showsIEM how to desalinate seawater to make it drinkable using reverse osmosis.
Finally, our last-minute guest comes from the Faculty of Education. Brahim Azaoui is a senior lecturer and he talks to us about the study days: "Early childhood: languages, multimodality, and multilingualism" organized at UM with the University of Le Mans and the AFalaC association from March 15 to 18.
At UM Science, you have the program, so let's get started!
Co-production: DivergenceFM / University of Montpellier
Host: LucieLecherbonnier
Interview: Lucie Lecherbonnier / Aline Périault
Reporting and editing: Aline Périault
Production: Naomi Charmetan
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