NAPLES - The past days saw the annual convention of geologists, held at the Earth Sciences department of the University of Naples Federico II. During the convention, the state of health of water resources was discussed, in the light of the last heatwave that caused distress in the main Italian cities.
Data on water waste in Italy
According to the Italian National Institute for Statistics (Istat), in Italy, the average rainfall during the 2001-2010 decade, corresponding to around 245,457 million cubic meters of water, shows an increase of 1.8% compared to the average of the 1971-2000 period. In 2012, the entities providing water services operating in Italy were 3,161, of which 82.8% was represented by municipal administrations. In the last years, water waste got even worse, going from 32% in 2008 to 37.4% in 2012. Furthermore, there is a significant increase in drinkable water collection across the entire national territory, which in 2012 had already reached 9.5 billion cubic metres, 84.8% of which originating from underground water resources, with a growth of 3.8% compared to 2008.
Planning and respect for the land
These data were presented by Silvia Fabbrocino of the Earth, Environment and Resources Sciences of the University of Naples Federico II. "It is therefore necessary to focus our attention on the development and implementation of criteria for planning and for water resource management", explained the expert, "based on a deepening of knowledge of the factors and natural processes that regulate the flow and quality of underground waters, i.e. the water availability, and the forecast of the current and future impacts of human works and operations on the land, promoting positive actions to reduce waste, the use and reuse of water resources, the construction of eco-sustainable wells and the improvement of infrastructure systems".
by Alessandro Michielli
