On 4 April, the French National Assembly unanimously approved a new bill that bans certain PFAS products as of 1 January 2026. Previously, France transposed the 2020 European Drinking Water Directive into national law on 1 January 2023, which sets water quality limits for 20 PFAS monitored in distributed water. France’s Regional Health Agencies (Agence Régionale de Santé) will systematically test for PFAS in drinking water and impose a quality limit of 0.1 μg/L as part of the French PFAS Action Plan 2023–2027.
Following the bill’s approval, on 11 April, Veolia France reported PFAS levels in two-thirds of its drinking water sites that serve 15 million inhabitants. So far, 99% of sites meet the new PFAS standards. For the remaining 1% in exceedance, Veolia has implemented remediation measures on more than half.
In this Research Note:
- Veolia poised to transfer expertise from U.S. to France
- French regional test case suggests an initial drinking water granular activated carbon (GAC) market opportunity of at least €54 million annually
- PFAS destruction and biosolids treatment challenges loom for wastewater treatment plant operators
