The wastewater treatment plant, which was built in 1988 on a 3.5-hectare site, is home to numerous innovations. It is responsible for the wastewater of around 500,000 inhabitants of the towns of Nice, Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, Beaulieu and Villefranche-sur-Mer. It operates 10 sedimentation tanks, each with a surface area of 10 x 25 metres for primary treatment, and 12 secondary clarifiers, each measuring 12 x 60 metres. A total of 45 people work on the site, including 15 in eight-hour shifts. The plant is operated all year round. Mistakes are not allowed to happen, as all the beaches in the area have the "Pavillon Bleu", the sign for the certification of clear bathing water. The water leaving the treatment plant is therefore subject to very strict standards.
For the electrical supply to the 10 bridges of the 25 metre long sedimentation tanks and the 12 bridges of the 60 metre long secondary clarifiers, a classic loop system was initially used for the energy supply, in which the flat cables were attached to ball-bearing slides and travelled back and forth on a fixed rail. The first carriage was connected to the bridge and the whole system followed the movements of the bridge. Due to the difficult environmental conditions and the constant work of the bridges, Jean Camilla had to service the carriages of all the basins on a monthly basis. This time-consuming and labour-intensive work also led to costly spare parts management and frequent process interruptions.
