Understandable, when we translate letters etc you don’t get the Nuance’s so could be right off track.
what on earth is going on?? I can assure you that if I’d received such bumpf I’d hotfoot to our Mairie and ask them what the heck…
and that form concerning forages etc… Advice from our Mairie is never to complete and/or sign a form you do not completely understand…
The Mairie is there to aid its people… so ask ‘em to take a look at the form/bumpf you’ve been sent… now… so you’re well informed for when the water engineer arrives.
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@Bonzocat is there any news/explanation???
No. I think I know why they want to inspect my water meter. Awhile back I had a leak problem in the house so I shut off the stopcock and reduced water usage to minimum, and my washing machine had broken down as well, so my consumption was much reduced.
RESE detected my reduced consumption and contacted me wanting to know why. I told them and they went away satisfied. But I am still very economical with water and my washing machine is not yet repaired.
RESE said in their letter, as I understand it, that they consider I have a private source of water supply which could contaminate my supply and the public supply. Whatever is a private water supply? A well? A swimming pool?
I’m not going to make a big thing about it and shall just wait until the agent arrives to have a look. I’ve got nothing to hide. Nothing has changed in more than 30 years.
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Update. I got my knickers in a twist about the RESE telling me “It appears that you have a private water supply”, asking me to provide so much technical information, and the fact that an agent was coming to see me, that I had no choice in the matter - it was obligatory. It didn’t make any sense.
While trying to decipher these forms this morning I noticed a heading I’d overlooked. They think I have a private water supply in the form of a ‘puit’ or ‘ouvrage’ - a well!
I have the legal right to use a local well, the old-fashioned type with a wheel, a long rope and a bucket, which is not too far away from my house. It is noted in my house deeds, is communal, but derelict and hidden by undergrowth.
When the agent comes, I shall give him a copy of my house deeds showing the cadastre location of the well. I cannot give them any information apart from my right to use it, and its location.
I felt I was being invaded by RESE with their obligatory demands. Panic over! But I’m wondering why they should be asking for this information - to update their records?
Probably and then tax you for it 
I think they think that I am using the well water via some pumping connection to my house. They warn of contamination of the public water supply if the installation doesn’t comply with mandatory regulations. I don’t own this now delapidated derelict defunct well - but a neighbour does.
I know at least two people who do precisely that, so they must encounter it quite frequently. Once they see that you haven’t, things should be fine. I certainly hope so. There’s a lot of very dodgy practices around here!
We have a well in our garden. It is full of rubbish - concrete slabs. rusty metal poles - and no water (much to our disappointment).
Some years back, I mentioned this to an elderly French lady who suggested our situation was straight out of Jean de Florette. 
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Thank you. I had visions of someone poking around indoors looking under the kitchen sink or in the toilet cistern, or elsewhere, looking for some secret filtering system for well water, not trusting me.
I am certain the reason for this enquiry is because they know my water consumption has dropped dramatically, in their terms, compared to my average consumption. I just use a lot less water than before, leading them to suspect I have a secret water supply somewhere.
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No, so they can tax you most probably, or concoct some sort of annual inspection fee that you’ll have to pay while they try to work out how to tax you, restrict it or grab it.
If it’s technically a communal resource and especially if they are going to try all this on and you’re not even using it, I’d challenge them by demanding that naturally they’ll treat everyone with communal rights the same, won’t they ? In other words tell them to do the whole job and not just pick on you.
It does sound like they’re making a mountain out of a molehill though.
More than likely so.
Frankly, I would keep things very simple. I presume you are OK conversing in gentle French..
so give them back the blank Form and say that you do NOT have a Puit nor a Fourage.
Your Water is solely via the compteur.
Your usage has gone down as you are trying not to waste this precious resource!
Yes, the neighbour has a Puit. It is not used (as far as you know) and the neighbour’s name is blah blah blah…
(you can show them where the neighbour’s Puit is marked on the document you have.)
It should really be that simple.
Did you mention this at your Mairie… it really can help if they are alerted to what is going on.
best of luck
I had a closer look at my house deeds, and the well is on land owned by one neighbour, a farming family – it’s not communal. However, there may be other nearby neighbours who have a right of use, but who they are, only they know – I don’t. That’ll be for RESE to figure out.
Why my house has a right of use I don’t know. I’m assuming my house was granted use of the well probably some 100 years or so ago, or more.
While filling in these forms I realised that the information being asked for has nothing to do with me. I do not own a well and am not thinking of constructing a new one. So, I have crossed out everything I’ve written down and will explain why to the agent.
The farm and its several houses and several barns have all been sold now, so it’s possible the owner of the house where Grand’Mere lived, the original owner, will be the new owner of the well, and when RESE arrive to inspect, I shall make sure the agent knows that! My French will be honed for the meeting and I shall be super cool and collected.
See photo – the well is under those tall bushes and of no use to anyone, and it is not plumbed in to any property, especially not mine.
Go on, arrange some blackberry bushea to be around the well if he wants to fight his way through to inspect it.
The more I think about it, the more I think anyone French would simply not mention it - and that they’d be right not to do so. After all why stir up trouble for your neighbours? Can refer him to the Mairie if he gets stroppy.
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Why complicate things I wouldn’t say anything about the well you’re not using. You’re not connected to it, it’s none of their business. If they do an inspection it’ll be from the meter then the pipe work to all of the cold water points. If the readings on the meter are down significantly maybe the meter is not working correctly.
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I’ve already explained to RESE that I have reduced my use of water. My washing machine for example has not yet been repaired. And I am genuinely reducing my consumption. Which is why I think they think I have a private source of water supply - the well! They don’t believe me.
There’s nothing wrong with the meter, relatively new.
The well is drowning in copious masses of bramble. I shall give the agent a stick to poke with.
You’d be surprised by the amount of meters and non return values that I’ve seen not working correctly. If you’re not using a washing machine that would decrease your consumption a bit if you’re hand washing. Another way is, if it’s yellow let it mellow and if it’s brown flush it down.
Same here for old gas meters, when I met my wife her gas meter used to make a lot of noise, I said don’t let them change it, you are probably getting 10% free gas as the gearbox inside is definitely not doing well. On a development in SE London the water meter was passing a fair amount as you could see one of the digits wasn’t moving. 
I don’t handwash, I use the washing machine facilties outside the local SuperU, and my hot water heater is not working either. I used to use lots of hot water for washing up in the kitchen sink. I’m waiting for the moment when I think I can afford much needed kitchen improvements. As @KarenLot said, RESE is making a mountain out of a mole hill.
It isn’t the meter, it’s my dramatic reduction in water consumption.