UM atUM [S05-ep16]: Life Rewa, a project as big as a truck
This week on "UM atUM ," François Zaviska, a researcher at the European Membrane Institute, talks to us about the Montpellier-based Life Rewa mobile water treatment unit project. The report takes you to the Qualisud food technology platform with Charlotte Delpech, and we wrap up with the Fête de la Nature. A program broadcast every Wednesday on Divergence.
A few weeks ago, we told you about the water crisis in Iran. We could have talked about Jordan, India, South Africa, or even Spain. According to a report published earlier this year by the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment, and Health, referring to a “crisis”—in the sense of a temporary state—is no longer accurate, as the damage now appears irreversible. The report therefore proposes the concept of “water bankruptcy” to signify that the natural renewal of water will no longer allow reservoirs to return to their “historical normal.”
What is the situation in France? In July 2025, 55 of the 96 departments in metropolitan France were under a drought alert and subject to calls for restrictions on drinking water or well water use (VigiEau). While the situation is not yet critical, it nevertheless calls for proactive measures to implement water management practices that would limit withdrawals from natural sources. To achieve this, there are at least two solutions: reducing our consumption and developing wastewater reuse for certain applications.
With this goal in mind, the Montpellier metropolitan area, in partnership with the University of Montpellier, the European Membrane Institute, and the companies DV2E (Gard) and Chemdoc (Auvergne), is launching the pioneering Life rewa project. A “mobile” water treatment unit, housed in a truck, capable of producing up to 110,000 m³ of high-quality recycled water per year directly at the outlet of wastewater treatment plants. François Zaviska is a researcher at the European Membrane Institute; he has worked on this project and will tell us more about it in the next few minutes.
The report takes us to CIRAD for a third and final visit to the Qualisud laboratory’s food technology platform . We’ll be talking about freeze-drying with Charlotte Delpech. She explains this cold-drying process, which keeps the strawberries in your breakfast cereal bright red, helps prepare meals for astronauts, and even stabilizes medications.
Finally, Marianne Dupré Gabirot, head of the Science Communication Department atUM , introducesUM to the Fête de la Nature, which will take place on May 22 at the Jardin des Plantes and the Institute of Botany.
AtUM , you’ve got the program—let’s get started!
Co-production: Divergence FM / University of Montpellier
Host: Lucie Lecherbonnier
Interview: Lucie Lecherbonnier / Aline Périault
Reporting: Aline Périault
Production: Alice Rollet
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