An important meeting was held in Palermo, at Palazzo d’Orleans, with the national commissioner of wastewater purification prof. Fabio Fatuzzo and the president of the Sicilian Region, Renato Schifani, to discuss the reuse of waste water, and fight the drought that already afflicts Sicily.
The professor supported the meeting Francesco Fatoneprofessor at the Polytechnic of Marche, among the leading international experts in the treatment and reuse of waste water.
Climate change requires a systematic approach to transform wastewater into a theoretically inexhaustible resource.
During the meeting, it was decided to create a technical table to address the problem in a structural and systematic way.
The water reuse necessary for human life therefore becomes a necessary tool to cope with climate change in the near future.
President Schifani on the reuse of waste water
“The reuse of water – said President Schifani – requires us to make structural choices that go in the right direction, promoting sustainable and prolonged use of water. For this reason, we were among the first regions in Italy to implement the EU directive for the reuse of purified water. A choice, in the name of the circular economy and environmental sustainability, which could constitute a concrete solution to the scarcity of water resources which is bringing the Sicilian countryside to its knees.
An innovative measure, the result of a year of joint work with Sicilian universities, the ATI (Territorial water assemblies), i water service managers, Basin Authority, Harp And Asl, which has enormous potential. The recovery of this water, currently discharged into the sea or rivers, could in fact mark a turning point.”
Commissioner Fatuzzo: “Using wastewater in agriculture and industry”
In this regard, the commissioner Fabio Fatuzzo he explained that “ the water that is purified must be reused, especially in the face of current needs, posing the need and opportunity to use the water purified by our plants, avoiding wasting it by discharging it into the sea. We can and must ensure that it is used for agricultural and industrial purposes, as long as it is refined according to the regulations. We found great availability from President Schifani who shared how fundamental and indifferent it is to launch this strategy”.
The meeting highlighted various aspects for resolving the island’s problems and dealing with this emergency.
The new directive provides that, by 2035, urban waste water will be subjected to secondary treatment (i.e. the removal of biodegradable organic matter), before being discharged into the environment, in all agglomerations of the size of 1,000 inhabitants, equivalent units standard measurement that describes the average pollution released by a person per day.
By 2039, however, it will also concern tertiary treatment with the elimination of nitrogen and phosphorus and will be applied in all wastewater treatment plants.
Critical issues also in the healthcare sector
The lack of water also causes a critical issue in the healthcare sector, where at the moment, there is no concrete risk of interrupting activities, given that, as “life-saving” treatments, the legislation requires dialysis centers to have tanks with a capacity adequate for the number of artificial kidneys declared. Cisterns can be refilled from outside in case of water shortage in order to ensure the possibility of intervention at any time.
The reuse of purified water in agriculture for civil and environmental uses, it could be the solution for the drought in the Sicilian countryside, street cleaning activities, irrigation of public green areas paid for by the Municipalities, etc.
We remember that waste water cannot be reintroduced into theenvironment without a purification process. Since land, sea, rivers and lakes are not able to receive a quantity of polluting substances greater than their self-purifying capacity.
To stimulate the reuse of waste water, it is necessary to encourage the meeting between supply and demand, incentivize entrepreneurs and farmers and plan infrastructure.
Giusy Giacone
