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World War II slowed business in Le Cateau, as Allied bombings destroyed the canal system used to transport goods such as steel, vital to the construction of water filters. When a barge containing 300 tons of steel was abandoned in a silt-filled canal, Degrémont bought the barge and its contents from
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Degrémont formed close working relationships with three men, with whom he would grow the business over the subsequent decades: Pierre Duflot, who ran the financial part of the business, Sarkis
Balabanian, who focused on foreign expansion, and Roger Leviel, chief engineer and specialist in chemistry
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Gilbert Degrémont was the grandson of
Aldebert Degrémont, head of a mechanical construction workshop in Le Cateau, in the north of France from 1870 until the early 20th century. In 1904, Aldebert retired, leaving the business to his son Émile, who had created his own company, Établissements Émile
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in 1927. After military service at a hot air balloon base, he joined his father and his brother Étienne in the industrial water purification business in Le Cateau. He successfully installed an iron filtration system for the water supply in
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His father Émile retired in 1939, and the company was split between
Gilbert and Étienne, who ran the mechanical construction workshop in Le Cateau. Gilbert founded Degrémont-Traitement des eaux with offices and workshops in
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Degrémont soon entered the international market. In order to be readily recognized overseas, he designed the dove logo that is still the company’s trademark. The logo, which first appeared in 1949, was modeled after
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the steel manufacturer for a tiny sum, then mobilized teams of workers to remove the steel within a week. The steel cache lasted the company six months in a time when competitors had none.
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Gilbert Degrémont learned mechanics while working in his father’s and grandfather’s workshops and factories. He completed agriculture studies at the
Institute of Agronomy in
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Gilbert Degrémont retired from the company he founded in 1972, after it merged with SLEE, later known as
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In 1949, he moved the company to its newly built headquarters in the western Paris suburb of
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In the early 1940s, Degrémont and chief engineer Roger Leviel wrote the first edition of
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239:“An interview with Jean-Claude Degrémont”, produced by Boomerang Productions, 2009.
221:“An interview with Jean-Claude Degrémont”, produced by Boomerang Productions, 2009.
212:“An interview with Jean-Claude Degrémont”, produced by Boomerang Productions, 2009.
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Meanwhile, Sarkis
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Salmona, Jacques, Gilbert Degrémont: la naissance d’une industrie.
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Salmona, Jacques, Gilbert Degrémont: la naissance d’une industrie.
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Salmona, Jacques, Gilbert Degrémont: la naissance d’une industrie.
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Today, the company remains a world leader in water treatment.
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Degrémont, focusing on water treatment for the industry.
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252:Suez Environnement -- Degrémont Website
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169:Le Mémento Technique de l’Eau
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173:The Water Treatment Handbook
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38:expert and the founder of
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46:Early life and career
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40:Degrémont SA
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277:1974 deaths
272:1908 births
266:Categories
183:References
154:in 1997.
101:St Etienne
179:in 2007.
177:Lavoisier
75:Degrémont
71:in 1933.
21:Le Cateau
141:Jakarta
116:Picasso
69:Vietnam
137:Tehran
95:After
56:Rennes
33:French
29:France
127:Egypt
123:Cairo
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25:Nord
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