Private swimming pools: will the French have to do without them in the face of droughts?
In 2022 and 2023, France suffered a historic drought. In early July 2025, barely into summer, the government was expressing concern about an "already worrying" situation, according to Minister for Ecological Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher.
According to the Federation of Swimming Pool and Spa Professionals (FPP), their number increased fivefold between 1999 and 2024 to reach 3.6 million, concentrated mainly in the southern regions.
"France even has the largest number of in-ground pools in Europe (1.73 million) and the third largest in the world, just after the USA and Brazil," the federation states. Their size, however, has decreased - 29 m² on average since 2019 - as has the land around houses.
However, in communities plagued by chronic water shortages, this remains too much. As of January 2023, the Fayence region's nine hilltop villages in the Var region, the community of communes, took a radical decision, freezing building permits for five years, including for swimming pools. The community council explained this measure by "a very tense situation with a risk of water shortages."
On the other side of France, in a region less prone to drought, the 43 municipalities of Rennes Métropole decided in June to limit the size of swimming pools to 25 m³, or approximately 3 x 6 meters, and to make a "cover system mandatory" to limit evaporation. They will also have to be equipped with a rainwater harvesting system with filtration to replenish the water level.
This measure is part of "a much more comprehensive approach to reducing greenhouse gases and preserving natural water resources," the local authority told AFP, while also combating soil sealing. "The challenge is to adapt to a new reality. This is anything but ideology," insists the local authority located in Ille-et-Vilaine, a department placed on drought alert in mid-July, with restrictions on water consumption.
"I don't understand the 25 m³ measurement," reacts Gaël David, head of the Piscine 35 group, based in Ille-et-Vilaine and affected by the Rennes metropolitan area's decision. For the entrepreneur, who has already planned to reduce the number of employees dedicated to swimming pool construction, with this measure, "people will opt for above-ground pools, which are not covered."
For the FPP, the quest for water savings does not justify targeting private swimming pools. "The size of swimming pools has significantly decreased over the years," Joëlle Pulinx, general delegate, told AFP. "A swimming pool will use an average of 7m3 each year," once it has been filled, she explains. The equivalent of 47 days of drinking water consumption for a French person.
"If we put a pool cover on, we will limit evaporation by up to 95%," continues Joëlle Pulinx, who emphasizes the "user-friendliness" of private pools.
The only existing figures on water consumption in private swimming pools are those of the FPP. "The Data and Statistical Studies Service currently has no data on swimming pools and the volumes of water they represent," states the Bercy press office.
SudOuest
