It was August 10, 2022. In Plonéour-Lanvern (Finistère), about twenty kilometers south-west of Quimper, Pierre Hélias, owner of two washing stations, one in Kergaret, the other in Kervescar, learns with amazement that he must immediately close his establishments because of a prefectural decree which follows the placing of Finistère on maximum drought alert.
“The water police came to our house.
She told us that everything had to close, whatever the source of the water.
“A blow for this entrepreneur who took over the stations from his father on March 1, 2020 … to close on March 12, 2020, due to the pandemic.
Fate is hounding him but does not give up and decides, with thirty-two other owners of resorts in Finistère, to appeal to the administrative court of Rennes.
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“We had two months to appeal.
The complete file was submitted on October 10.
Meanwhile, on September 29, we were allowed to reopen, but partially.
On October 14, he learned that the famous decree was finally repealed, nullifying their appeal.
For its part, the Merrien de Fouesnant garage has a washing station which works in particular with rainwater collected in a tank.
The tank buried behind the garage has a maximum capacity of 70,000 litres.
But when it is not raining, the station is connected to the public network.
“We did like the other stations, following the prefectural decree of August 10, explained Hervé, employee of the garage The station was closed.
If it had rained, we could have supplied the station with rainwater, but it was impossible for us to have enough water to operate independently.
Our tank has a system that switches to city water when the tank is not full enough, hence the obligation to close.
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"The water we use is reprocessed, unlike that used by the individual when he washes his vehicle at home"
Pierre Hélias, owner of two washing stations in Plonéour-Lanvern (Finistère)
On August 29, the station reopened to its full extent but offering only two washes consuming the least water.
Since then, the tank has filled up again and, for the past few days, users have been able to benefit from all the station's services.
“Even if we had had rainwater in the tank while the stations were closed, we would not have reopened in solidarity with others.
It is certainly a shortfall because the summer period is conducive to washing vehicles, especially since we have not benefited from any state aid.
But it is above all companies that only have washing as an activity that have suffered a lot.
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It is now time to quantify the real losses resulting from the total and partial closure of washing stations.
In Plonéour-Lanvern, Pierre Hélias does not want to stop there despite the repeal of the decree.
“Many of us have invested in stations. We want to move towards recycling, which requires large investments.
It should be noted, however, that the water we use is reprocessed, unlike that used by the individual when he washes his vehicle at home.
We really want to invest but let's not be blocked, let's be given the means.
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With its four high-pressure washing lanes and two washing rolls with water recycling at Kergaret and its three high-pressure lanes and one roll at its other Kervescar station, Pierre Hélias therefore intends to take legal action for obtain compensation for the closure of its two establishments.
And he won't be alone... The washing stations in other Breton departments have still not resumed their activity at 100%.
