Regulations – From mistrust to strict control
Technique et gestion de l’assainissement non collectif

Until the early 1980s, the history of regulations governing individual sanitation (which is another name for non-collective sanitation) was underpinned by a negative view of these techniques. The aim of the various texts was to confine individual sanitation to a place as a temporary solution pending connection to the sewer system, or as a derogation when this was impossible.

• 1980s

  In 1980, the regulations were overhauled. Individual sanitation covered a considerable population. In 1984, the French Ministry of Agriculture estimated that 30% of the population of rural communes, i.e. some 9 million inhabitants, were covered by this sanitation technique.

  Moreover, the development of individual housing in peri-urban areas could only take place if sewage systems were not too costly.

  This concern for economy motivated the attitude of representatives of...