It considers the communication of the public authorities "denigrating". The federation of pool professionals has taken legal action to annul a decree prohibiting the sale of above-ground pools in the Pyrénées-Orientales, which are facing a historic drought, it announced in a statement released on Tuesday.
For two weeks, the sale of above ground pools has been banned in the Pyrénées-Orientales department, due to drought. The use of water, apart from drinking water, is also restricted: filling your swimming pool, washing your car or watering your garden is prohibited.
#eau #secheresse Details of the measures of the prefectural decree of passage in "drought crisis": + info: 🔽 📷 https://t.co/5JFBynz2Op pic.twitter.com/Wu6xXtJezV
— Prefect of Pyrénées-Orientales (@Prefet66) May 9, 2023
"Since the announcement of the Minister of Ecological Transition on the ban on above-ground pools in the Pyrénées-Orientales, it is the entire family pool sector that is brutally brought to a halt throughout the France," denounces the federation in its press release.
"The ban on the sale of above ground pools is not only illegal, but it will be totally unproductive, as customers will source their supplies on the Internet or abroad. This is why the FPP has just filed an appeal with the aim of having this decree annulled, "says the federation.
Requests for derogations
According to the Minister of Ecological Transition, Christophe Béchu, this ban aims to avoid "having people who buy swimming pools and who would then have the temptation to fill them even though this filling is prohibited".
"It's not a government decision, it's the reality of nature and the situation we're in, we have to get used to the idea that global warming is now," he added.
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But for the FPP, these statements by the government are denigrating and throw "the discredit on the whole of a leading French sector of activity in Europe, committed for a long time in favor of the environment".
The federation also ensures "that the 3 million basins installed in France representing only 0.15% of water use at the national level", and that the filling of new basins constitutes "0.02% of water uses in France".
"Banning the use of water in swimming pools will not solve the problem of drought in some French regions," says the federation of pool professionals, which asks, in particular, individual derogations for the filling of swimming pools delivered this year.