The Montpellier area, the beating heart of France's expertise in water management

Water and urban planning was the theme on which 800 students from 23 countries worked for two days to develop an innovative, technical, and socially relevant project addressing challenges related to water. On February 26 and 27, Montpellier City Hall hosted the 8th edition of the Water4Future Hackathon, the world’s largest student hackathon focused on water.

Organized as a hybrid event by the UNESCO ICIREWARD International Center – University of Montpellier and MedVallée, this innovation competition once again sparked creativity. The Sintchigan team from the National School of Mathematical Engineering and Modeling in Benin won first place, the Réunion Groupe 4 team from the University of Réunion took second, while the Agua-Ardiente team from AgroParisTech Montpellier (France) earned third place.

"We are working to reinforce the Water4Future program, of which the Hackathon is one of the most emblematic components. The program also reaches out to younger children through the “PLOUF” (the French word for “splash”) initiative and to middle and high school students via its “Water4Future Conventions.” These different elements complement our Water4Future program, which engages all age groups worldwide. Providing training and raising awareness are priorities for ICIREWARD," explains Éric Servat, director of the ICIREWARD Center at University of Montpellier.

As the first and only UNESCO research and training center dedicated to inland water in France, ICIREWARD – University of Montpellier is one of the pillars of the water ecosystem in the Montpellier area, which offers comprehensive expertise centered on innovation and knowledge sharing.

This is the driving force behind this ecosystem, which is integrated as part of the MedVallée initiative. Composed of leading players, The ecosystem comprises academic institutions, research centers, international groups, and startup companies. Its flagship, the Hydropolis science park — a campus dedicated to water sciences — brings together, in addition to the ICIREWARD – University of Montpellier, the OREME Observatory of Universe Sciences, and the HydroSciences Montpellier (HSM) research group. Joining them in January 2024 is the Hydropolis campus in La Valette, just north of Montpellier, focused on interdisciplinary and participatory research on integrated and adaptive water management.

This science park dedicated to water is also unique in France: “There are currently no other facilities like this specifically dedicated to water,” explains Éric Servat.

Hydropolis spans more than 5,000 m² of buildings and welcomes more than 480 scientists, along with 180 doctoral students. It also houses the headquarters of Aqua-Valley, the water competitiveness cluster that brings together 250 members — 47 of whom are based in the Montpellier metropolitan area — 1,200 researchers, and 500 doctoral students across the area it covers. As a reminder, University of Montpellier is now ranked as France’s top university in the field of water sciences in international rankings, such as the Shanghai Ranking.

This dynamism is also stimulated by a network of companies with recognized expertise, true stars in the field of innovation. In addition to the active presence of Veolia, the Montpellier job market is home to AquaTech Innovation, Ecofilae, IAGE, Minerve Technology, NXO Engineering, Ceneau, and Lineup Ocean. Joining them are Abiofore, Akelion, Aquadoc, Artelia, Biofaq Laboratoires, Bio-UV Group, BRL, Cereg Ingénierie, Chemdoc Water Technologies, Ecosec, Egis Eau, Envilys, Firmus France, GL Biocontrol, Greenphage, Imeca Process, Innov’ent, Irrifrance, Mayanne Eau & Sociétés, Nereus, and more.

Many of these companies have completed successful fundraising rounds over the past three years. Examples include Aquatech Innovation, Minerve Technology, Lineup Ocean, as well as Greenphage, just to name a few.

“The water ecosystem in Montpellier is well-rounded, bringing together top-tier researchers, an active and productive competitiveness cluster, Aqua-Valley, a constellation of innovative companies, institutions, and local authorities that are actively engaged,”, highlightsGeneviève Marais, CEO of AquaTech Innovation, a company that received the “Unconventional Water” Innovation Award from the Union of Water and Environment Industries and Enterprises in January 2025 for its AquaPool project.

The company also recently brought its environmental expertise to the new V Studios 2 film studio in Vendargues — the first studio to receive “La Grande Fabrique de l’Image – France 2030” certification — by implementing a system to recycle and reuse rainwater to provide water for restroom facilities.

Montpellier Métropole is itself fully committed to water resource sustainability. It supports and fosters the ecosystem and is involved with innovative initiatives, such as the Living Lab of the Défi Clé Woc-Water Occitanie, a project focusing on water reuse led by the Occitanie Region, and the Hydrosciences Laboratory, which is funding a PhD thesis on the Lez River.

The expertise of stakeholders in the local area is an undeniable asset for innovation, which the water utility promotes through its research and development efforts and the Life ReWA project. Led by the Montpellier Water Utility (Régie des Eaux de Montpellier), the European Institute of Membranes at University of Montpellier, DV2E, and Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole, ReWA (Recycled Water for Life) is an initiative to experiment with the production of treated wastewater using a mobile unit that can be shared across several wastewater treatment plants. The objectives are to recover water at the outlet of wastewater treatment plants for further treatment in order to achieve water quality suitable for street cleaning, fighting fires, hydro-cleaning wastewater and rainwater drainage systems, watering green spaces, and irrigating agricultural land… Designed by Chemdoc Water Technologies as part of the ReWA initiative, the mobile unit was presented at the CYCL'EAU trade show held on March 19-20, 2025, at the Montpellier Parc des Expositions exhibition center.

“Here, we have 360° expertise ranging from studies to both quantitative and qualitative water treatment, all the way to risk management. We provide this expertise to local authorities,” notes Olivier Sarlat, president of Aqua-Valley, who concludes: “The beating heart of water management in France is centered around Montpellier.”