Paris Gets a Bath: The Hidden System That Keeps the City Streets Clean
I researched this because Paris has a surprisingly sophisticated system behind something that looks very simple when you see it happening: water running down the gutter while a sanitation worker sweeps the sidewalk. Paris still uses a separate non-potable water network, a legacy of the 19th-century modernization of the city. That water is used specifically for jobs such as washing streets and sidewalks, flushing gutters, watering parks and cleaning sewers.
This blog post fits nicely with my other “how Paris works” observations:
One of the things I have learned from walking around Paris is that sometimes the most interesting parts of the city are happening right under my feet.
Early in the day, particularly before the sidewalks become crowded, you may notice water flowing along the curb. A street cleaner is working nearby with a broom, directing leaves, cigarette butts, bits of paper and all the other debris produced by a busy city toward the gutter.
At first glance, it looks wonderfully old-fashioned. Someone has apparently turned on the water and decided to give Paris a bath.
As it turns out, that isn’t far from the truth.
Paris Has Two Water Systems
Hidden beneath Paris is something I certainly never thought about while walking its streets: the city has two separate water networks.
One carries drinking water.
The other carries what the French call eau non potable, or non-potable water. Paris has maintained this second system since the great public works projects of the 19th century. Today the network extends for roughly 1,700 kilometers beneath the city.
The water comes principally from the Seine and the Canal de l’Ourcq. It is screened and filtered sufficiently for municipal purposes, but it doesn’t receive the extensive treatment required for drinking water.
And Paris puts it to work.
It waters parks and gardens, supplies some ornamental water features, helps clean the sewers and, most visibly to someone walking around the city, washes the streets and sidewalks.
So when I see water running along a Paris gutter, I am actually looking at part of an enormous piece of municipal infrastructure hidden beneath my feet.
The Little Openings Along the Curb Have a Purpose
Paris has thousands of pieces of equipment connected to its public water systems, including the bouches de lavage, the street-washing outlets.
Water can be released into the gutter, where the shape and slope of the street help carry it along the curb. Sanitation workers can then sweep debris into the moving water and direct it toward collection points.
Modern Paris adds machinery to the operation, of course. The city has a fleet of approximately 1,400 cleaning vehicles and machines. Street sweepers vacuum the roadways, washing vehicles scrub the pavement, and workers still tackle the places machines cannot reach.
There are about 6,200 field workers involved in keeping Paris clean, and the city says they deal with approximately 2,900 kilometers of sidewalk. Nearly 1,600 kilometers of streets are vacuumed and washed at least once a week, with the frequency varying according to pedestrian traffic, street size and activity.
It is an enormous housekeeping operation.
And then there is the subject nobody particularly wants to discuss.
What About All Those Parisian Dogs?
Paris loves dogs.
Walk for any length of time and you will see them everywhere: little dogs trotting beside beautifully dressed women, large dogs stretched beneath café tables, dogs riding public transportation and dogs patiently waiting outside neighborhood shops.
All those dogs inevitably create another urban sanitation problem.
Dog poop.
There was actually a time when Paris had a fairly notorious reputation for it. But today’s rule could not be clearer.
The owner picks it up.
And there is an interesting detail: the obligation applies even if the dog does its business in the gutter.
Putting it in the gutter and assuming the street-washing system will take care of it is not an acceptable solution.
Dog owners are expected to carry a bag, pick up the waste and put the bag into a public street bin. Leaving dog waste behind can result in a €135 fine.
The same rule applies in public green spaces where dogs are permitted.
If someone discovers dog waste that has already been abandoned, Paris even has a system for that. Residents can report it through the city’s DansMaRue, or “In My Street,” service, which sends reports of street cleanliness problems to the appropriate city services.
Washing a City of Two Million People
What fascinates me most is the combination of old and new.
The water running down a gutter looks almost quaint. The worker with a broom could belong to another century. And in one sense, the system really does belong to another century.
But underneath that worker is a 1,700-kilometer non-drinking-water network. Around the corner may be a mechanical sweeper or washing vehicle. Above all of it is a modern municipal operation coordinating thousands of workers, vehicles, trash bins and cleaning schedules.
Even Parisian dog poop has become part of the system: owner responsibility first, a €135 incentive for anyone considering ignoring that responsibility, and municipal cleanup as the backup.
Paris isn’t magically clean.
It is washed, swept, vacuumed, collected and washed again.
And now, when I see that little stream of water making its way along the curb, I won’t simply step over it.
I’ll know that I am watching a tiny visible piece of one of Paris’s great hidden systems at work.
Another little discovery from simply walking the streets of Paris.
Fact: The factual backbone is particularly interesting: the City currently says 6,200 field agents, 2,900 km of sidewalks, 1,400 cleaning vehicles/machines, and nearly 1,600 km of streets washed or vacuumed at least weekly. Paris also confirms that failure to pick up dog waste carries a €135 fine, including waste left in the gutter, and abandoned waste can be reported through DansMaRue.
Add link: City of Paris: how Paris cleans its streets
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