Glossaire de A à Z
Parameter Group
Pareto optimality
Parrot feather
An aquatic to amphibious plant forming submerged or emergent meadows with knotty stems that can reach 3 to 4 meters in length and a few millimeters in diameter. This species thrives in slow-moving or stagnant waters, preferably well-lit and shallow (up to a maximum depth of 3 meters).
Participatory sciences
Information collection programmes involving public participation in a scientific process. This participation is carried out in particular for the collection of field observations. An example is the Vigie-Nature participatory science programme founded by the National Museum of Natural History.
Particulate organic matter
Patrimonial value
Payment card
Payments for Environmental Services (PSE)
Des instruments économiques qui rémunèrent les agriculteurs pour les actions qu’ils engagent volontairement afin de restaurer et protéger les écosystèmes. Ils répondent aux défis de la transition agro-écologique
Pedology
Pelagic
Pelagic zone
Part of slow-flowing aquatic environments, where the bottom is too deep to allow plants to grow.
perched groundwater
Performance of water distribution network
Volume of water consumed by users (private, industrial and other) and the public utility (for the management of the drinking water system) in relation with the volume of drinking water introduced into the supply system.
Permanent grassland
Permeability
Pesticide
Terme souvent associé dans les esprits aux produits utilisés en agriculture pour lutter contre les mauvaises herbes ou protéger les cultures des insectes et des moisissures. Pourtant ce terme regroupe en réalité différents types de produits utilisés pour des usages très variés dans un cadre professionnel - entretien des routes, des aéroports et des voies de chemin de fer, des parcs et des jardins publics, des cimetières ; opérations de dératisation ou de désinsectisation - ou dans notre environnement quotidien - lutte contre les insectes à la maison, désherbage des allées, protection des plantes du jardin, lutte contre les parasites de nos animaux de compagnie comme les puces ou les tiques….
Substance chimique ou des préparations utilisées pour lutter contre des organismes considérés comme nuisibles : pour la prévention, le contrôle ou l’élimination d’organismes indésirables, qu’il s’agisse de plantes, d’animaux (insectes, acariens, mollusques, etc.), de champignons ou de bactéries. Une fois appliqués sur des cultures ou plus généralement dans l'environnement, ces composés ont une action polluante dans la mesure où ils peuvent affecter non intentionnellement des organismes non nuisibles, sur site, ou suite au transfert de leurs résidus dans des espaces éloignés.
Le terme « pesticide » (dérivé du mot anglais pest ou ravageur) est souvent associé aux produits utilisés en agriculture pour lutter contre les adventices (« mauvaises herbes ») ou protéger les cultures des nuisibles comme les insectes ravageurs ou les organismes responsables de maladies tels que les champignons. Ce terme regroupe ainsi différents types de produits utilisés pour des usages très variés dans un cadre professionnel ou dans notre environnement quotidien.
Les consommateurs sont exposés aux pesticides parce que ceux-ci demeurent en faibles quantités sur les récoltes,…
Phosphate removal
Phosphates
Phosphorus cycle
Photosynthesis
Phycotoxin
Physical Data Model
Physico-chemical
Physical and chemical characteristics of water. Inside a water analysis, the observed parameters are quite numerous, and all of these allow to determine the physical-chemical water quality, which determines the maintenance of river biodiversity. These parameters could be for example, temperature, turbidity, concentration of organic matter, mineral, nitrogen, etc.
Phyto-purification
Phyto-remediation
Phytobenthos
Phytoplankton
Set of microscopic plant organisms that live in suspension in water (algae ...). Phytoplankton is the first link in the food chain in the marine ecosystem. There are approximately 4,000 phytoplankton species worldwide. Some of them can proliferate significantly by forming red, brown or green waters, other species are toxic but most of them are completely harmless.
Piezometer
In the strict sense, a device used for measuring the pressure head at a given point in an aquifer system, which indicates the pressure at that point, by allowing the observation or recording of an unconfined water level or a pressure. The piezometer concept was extended to all man-made (wells, wells, gravel pits, etc) or natural structures (sinkholes, caves, etc) that allow access to groundwater. We then rather speak of non-operated well which allows measurement of the groundwater level at a given point of the water table. This level which varies with the groundwater exploitation provides information about the…
Piezometric depression
Piezometric level
Piezometric record
The piezometric record is the collecting of the evolutions in time of the monitored groundwater level or piezometric level (see piezometric level). It consists of measurements that link the water level to a given date. Depending on the variability of groundwater level, the measurements are more or less close in time. The measurements obtained are positive or negative with respect to the measurement benchmark: they are positive when the groundwater level is below the benchmark measurement (the most common cases) and negative in the opposite case (artesian wells). Artesian: a well is artesian when the water is gushing. A record is represented by a curve which is time-slotted to be stored in a succession of points, each point representing a groundwater level at any given time. Points are linked to each other by means of a code that indicates whether a point is related to the preceding point in time. If the point is not related, it is then the initial point of a new part of the record…
Piezometry
Plankton
Plant protection product
Plant protection products. There may be some confusion with pesticides, which are phytosanitary products, but only intended to fight against organisms considered harmful. Phytosanitary products are used in large quantities in various ranges of application: firstly agriculture, but also roads (maintenance of roads and railways) and various private uses (gardening, treatment of facilities, etc). In fact phytosanitary products style the same products as pesticides, but they are then used for agriculture and crop protection. The phytosanitary products include many classes of products such as insecticides (which kill insects), fungicides (which eliminate fungi), herbicides (weeding), nematicides (which kill nematodes and earthworms), rodenticides (used to get rid of various rodents such as rats, mice, field mice, garden dormice, etc).
Pluviometry
Point of compliance
Point source pollution
Polder
Pollutant
Pollutant transfer
Polluted site
Polluter-pays principle
Pollution
Pollution basin
Pollution index
Arbitrary function of the concentration of one or more pollutants which is a measure of the potential harmfulness of pollution.
Pollution removal yield
Ratio between removed pollution and produced pollution. The pollution removal yield represents the effectiveness of the sewerage system of an agglomeration. It is equal to the multiplication of the treatment plant yield by the
Pollution rights market
Pollution transfer
POLMAR Plan
Regulatory and operational framework for action in case of accidental pollution of the sea, to coordinate human resources and mobilize control means. The POLMAR plan was implemented in 1978 (Circular of the Prime Minister) after the Amoco Cadiz disaster. A circular from the Prime Minister dated 17 December 1997 confirmed the existence of two types of action (two components): the POLMAR/SEA plan which is triggered by the maritime prefects and deals with interventions at sea, and the POLMAR/LAND plan which is triggered by the prefects of the Departments concerned by coastal
Polychlorinated biphenyls
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon
Pond
Pond with brackish water
Population
Population equivalent (pop.eq)
Assessment unit of organic pollution found in water representing the quality of organic matter discharged per day per capita. This measurement unit can easily compare the flow of pollutants. Among the parameters * characterizing pollution, the pollution treated in wastewater treatment plants is quantified by the population equivalent. The population equivalent is defined by Article R2224-6 of the General Code of Local Authorities, as the organic biodegradable load having a five-day biochemical oxygen demand * (BOD5) of 60 g of oxygen per day.
Potential Hydrogen
Precautionary principle
Precipitation
Prefect’s classification order
Prefect’s management order
Preservation
Pressure
Pricing
Primary sludge
Primary treatment
Primary/green sludge
Priority action area
Area determined by the river basin management plan (SDAGE) in which special depollution efforts should be made. The work undertaken in these
Priority habitat
Priority species
Priority substance
Private cost
Processed data
Data inferred from other data using a sophisticated method to facilitate the understanding of what is observed (e.g. a collecting rate, the average yield of a wastewater treatment plant, etc). The goal is to make them usable for a given or understandable need for a specific audience (processed data can be an indicator).
Produced wastewater
Productivity-change method
Profession/job object
Set of homogeneous pieces of information from a professional viewpoint. A profession object is a shared concept in a data dictionary prepared by the National Service for Water Data and Reference-dataset Management (Sandre).
Programme of measures
Document prepared for the basin or group of basins and for the duration of a six-year management cycle (2010-2015, 2016-2021, 2022-2027, etc), which identifies the key measures to be implemented for achieving the objectives defined in the river basin management plan (SDAGE), including the environmental objectives of the
Progressive erosion
Protected area
Area designated as requiring special protection under the European directives. A register is established on a river basin scale identifying various protected areas: vulnerable areas ("Nitrates" Directive), sensitive zones ("Urban Wastewater Treatment" Directive), areas designated under the "Habitats" Directive and "Birds" Directive as bathing areas, shellfish areas, categories of streams (Directive 78/659/EEC). The
Protected species
Protection zone
Area defined by prefectural declaration of public utility (DUP) decree ensuring the protection of water catchments and their environment close to occasional pollution of chronic or accidental origin and diffuse pollution. These orders define three protection perimeters: the immediate protection perimeter (PPI), the close protection perimeter (PPR) and the distant protection perimeter (PPE).
Limit of the legally reserved space around the catchments used for drinking water supply, after the opinion of a certified hydrogeologist. Handicraft, agricultural and industrial activities, and construction are prohibited or regulated there in order to preserve water resources, avoiding chronic or accidental pollution. We can legally distinguish three perimeters: the immediate protection perimeter (PPI) where the constraints are strong (possibilities of prohibition of activities), the close protection perimeter (PPR) where the activities are restricted, and the distant perimeter (PPE ) to guarantee the sustainability of the resource.
According to article L1321-2 of the public health code, the catchment protection perimeter is defined as follows: "With a view to ensuring the protection of water quality, the act declaring public utility of water withdrawal works intended for the supply of human communities mentioned in article L. 215-13 of the environment code determines around the withdrawal point an immediate protection perimeter whose land is to be acquired in full ownership , a close protection perimeter within which can be prohibited or regulated all kinds of installations, works, activities, deposits, works, development or occupation of soils likely to directly or indirectly harm the quality of water and, the where appropriate, a remote protection perimeter within which the installations, works, activities, deposits, works, development or occupation of the land and deposits mentioned above may be regulated. "
Protection-expenditure method
Protest zero
Provisional classification
Proximity catchment area
Pruning
Public drinking water fountain
public goods
Public inquiry
Public participation
Approach, planned by the Water Framework Directive (WFD), for the public involvement in its implementation process. For each basin or group of basins, it includes public consultations carried out over six months on: the timetable and work programme for the preparation or updating of the river basin management plan (SDAGE); the provisional summary of important issues, as well as the planned SDAGEs and
Public river-basin territorial agency
Group of local authorities established, at a watershed or a group of sub-watersheds scale, in order to facilitate the flood prevention, the defense against the sea, the management of water resources, and the preservation and management of wetlands. When a Sub-basin Management Plan has been set up, the Public river-basin territorial agency contributes to its monitoring and development. It ensures also the consistency of the management project of the Public water management and development agency.
Public service delegation
Contract by which a corporate body under public law entrusts the management of a public utility for which it is responsible to a public or private operator, whose remuneration is substantially linked to the result of the utility operation. The delegatee may possibly be responsible for building structures or for purchasing properties necessary for the utility. The fundamental difference between a public market and a public service delegation results from the method of payment chosen. For a public market, payment is made by the public buyer. For a public service delegation, remuneration derives from the operation of the utility, done at the delegatee's own risk.
Public utility
Public utility declaration
Public water management and development agency
Group of local authorities in charge of the local management project and of the territorial water coordination, at the watershed scale. The Public water management and development agency has to ensure flood prevention as well as non-state-owned rivers management.
Public water supply and sanitation services
Municipal public utility in charge of conveying drinking water to the consumer's tap and collecting and treating wastewater and stormwater before returning them to the natural environment. The 30,000 French public water supply and sanitation services are also in charge of the relations with the consumer: information, demand management, billing, etc. The "drinking water supply" service includes the abstraction of water from the natural environment, its potabilization and supply. The "sanitation" service includes the collection, conveyance and treatment of wastewater and the disposal or reuse of sludge…
Public waterways domain
Domain consisting of rivers and lakes belonging to the State, local authorities or their groupings, and classified in their public domain fluvial. The delimitation of state watercourses is determined by decree in Council of State.