of its members, Yves Tavernier from the Socialist Party, concluded the following: "The French feel that the rapid and poorly distributed increase in the price of water leads to new social inequities. They find it hard to accept that the water tariff weighs essentially on urban users and that, in apartment buildings, it is included in the rent. They do not understand that agricultural production is exempt from the Polluter-pays principle and that it continues to deteriorate the quality of groundwater with impunity. They wonder about the lack of transparency that prevails in the provision of public water supply. Finally, they find it very hard to understand their water bills." A representative survey of consumers carried out in December 2007 showed that most consumers believe prices are too high. However, it also showed that they overestimate the price of water (Euro 4.80/m3 instead of the actual average price of Euro 3.02/m3). About 55% of the French population believe that treated wastewater is directly being reused as drinking water, which is not the case. The survey also shows that 84% of French consumers trust that the quality of their tap water is good. 67% declare that they drink water from the tap at least once a week. Those who are dissatisfied about tap water quality complain mainly about high levels of chlorine and calcium carbonate. Infrastructure In 2008 there were 15,250 water treatment plants and 17,300 wastewater treatment plants in France. The wastewater treatment plants produced about one million tons of sludge, half of which is being used in agriculture. The water and sewer network is about 800,000 km long. Responsibility for water supply and sanitation Water supply, sewerage and wastewater treatment is a municipal responsibility in France. Many municipalities, in particular the smaller ones, have created municipal associations in order to benefit from economies of scale. Municipalities and municipal associations often contract out water supply and/or sanitation services to the private sector through long-term lease contracts (affermage). Six water agencies plan the management of water resources, collect fees for the abstraction of water from rivers and aquifers as well as for the discharge of wastewater to the environment, and use the proceeds to subsidize investments in water supply and sanitation. At the national level, no single Ministry is in charge of the sector and a variety of Ministries and other entities have attributions concerning specific aspects of the sector. Policy