SEMERAP produces and distributes drinking water. This water comes either from drill-holes in the alluvial groundwater of the Allier River or from “sub-basaltic” water catchments located in the chain of volcanoes of Auvergne. In that case, either it gushes out, naturally from underground galleries and flows out according to gravity or, if necessary, it is pumped up. Whether water comes from the water table of the Allier River or from the water catchments of the chain of Puys; this water only undergoes a simple treatment of disinfection (chlorination), required to preserve water quality during its way in the adduction and distribution Network that can reach more than 1 300 km for a certain spring.
		The greatest part of the areas controlled by SEMERAP benefits from interconnections of water networks. It means that if the supply could not be made by a water spring, alternative solutions could promptly be implemented in order to keep providing water to all clients. The current interconnection of networks and the production capacity have enabled to satisfy the water demand, in spite of climatic conditions particularly difficult, notably during the summer 2003.