MESSINA – “In the city, of the 94 distribution areas, only 7 record a supply of less than 5 hours per day”. During today’s session of the City Council, Amam went into the technical details of the interventions with the president Loredana Bonasera, who retraced what has been done in recent months: “We are carrying out a plan of challenging projects that have the objective of improving the water network”.
The president highlighted: “With respect to the water emergency that is gripping Sicily, it must be said that the monitoring activity of the aquifers has allowed us to immediately detect a decrease in the water supply over time, triggering a plan of targeted interventions, even before the issuance of the regional ordinance. In fact, the level of the Fiumefreddo aquifer in the period January-April 2024, which had already dropped by about 70 cm in 2023, underwent a further decrease of over 1.00 m. We intervened immediately with targeted interventions. Already in September 2023 we started the extraordinary cleaning of the springs. Interventions were carried out on the city wells to improve efficiency, recovering about 28 liters/s. We proceeded with the repair of the pipes and, during the 6 scheduled disconnections from November to May, several repairs of pipes were carried out to improve the efficiency of the network, recovering about 20 l/s”.
And again: “In February 2024, the mayor urgently requested the prefect to set up a technical table aimed at identifying the necessary proposals and solutions. Water research was started in the northern area with reconnaissance of any existing wells, procedures for their rehabilitation, springs, and sub-alveolar research. We implemented all this well before the regional ordinances and we did it because we have always worked to improve the water network and the service we provide to citizens. As Councilor Antonella Russo also pointed out in her speech, for the majority of the city population the inconvenience is marginal. In fact, it does not concern all districts. However, the company is alongside all citizens and in particular those who are suffering the most from the inconvenience and we are ready with concrete actions to support them”.
Here are the projects of Amam and the municipal administration: “In the foreground a project financing for a desalination plant in the evaluation phase. The company has also requested the availability of tankers, if necessary. The water from the Mili and San Saba purifiers and the “end of run” water from the fountains are being reused for irrigation and fire prevention purposes. The city greenery will be taken care of with tankers and non-potable water from Messina Servizi. Strengthening the tanker service with the provision of vehicles and personnel available from the other subsidiaries. In terms of assistance, Amam will proceed to strengthen the complaints and reporting offices with additional personnel. For the districts that currently have less than 5 hours of daily water supply, targeted interventions and support tankers will be carried out. And the activation of the Coc, Municipal Operations Center, is ready in case of need.
The company explains: “In the city, of the 94 distribution areas, only 7 record a delivery of less than 5 hours per day. In the remaining areas, the distribution average has dropped from the previous 18 hours to 13-14 hours, but remains significantly higher than in other Sicilian cities. In 41 districts, delivery is guaranteed between 15 and 24 hours, in 11 districts between 11 and 15 hours, and in 34 districts between 5 and 10 hours. The greatest inconveniences are recorded in the historically critical neighborhoods, on which the administrative action has concentrated, implementing all the necessary interventions, especially of a programmatic nature”.
As regards the water supply tables area by area, Amam “is keen to explain that the times indicated in the table refer to the opening and closing of the reservoirs serving the areas indicated. By virtue of this, some areas may experience delays due to the distance from the reservoir itself or local critical issues of individual buildings. These critical issues are the subject of the ongoing interventions financed by the Pnrr. And Amam specifies that the times may in any case be subject to variations also depending on the availability of the water resource, any faults, technical needs and maintenance interventions”.
