The Regional Council, at the proposal of President Alessandra Todde, has allocated €50 million to combat water loss in pipelines in several municipalities on the island where the greatest problems are currently being experienced. The measures will be implemented with resources from the 2021-2027 Development and Cohesion Fund (FSC). "With this measure, we are concretely addressing one of the most serious structural emergencies on our island ," Todde stated. "We can no longer allow the continued waste of a precious resource like water," she added, "especially at a time when climate change is threatening our ecosystems and impacting our daily lives."

Once the interventions are completed, the Region states, "it is estimated that the total annual volume potentially recoverable will be approximately 6.7 million cubic meters of water, but the exact quantification of the water savings will be possible once the new infrastructure comes into operation. To give an idea, this would mean a water saving that would ideally allow the entire Medau Zirimilis reservoir in Alto Cixerri to be filled, or approximately 25% of the authorized volume in the Maccheronis dam in Posada."

"Sardinia," the president emphasizes, "is one of the Italian regions with the highest water losses from drinking water distribution pipelines, as a percentage of the volumes delivered to the network. Added to this is the drought we are currently experiencing, one of the most severe on record. Today we are adopting a strategic measure to combat waste, strengthen the efficiency of the regional water service, and ensure resource availability in the most vulnerable areas."

The funding will be awarded to Egas, the Sardinian Government Agency, for the implementation, through the Integrated Water Service operator Abbanoa, of water network rehabilitation projects in 15 municipalities in the region.

Specifically, a statement reads, "the municipalities receiving the resources are: the municipality of Sassari, which will receive €6,900,000, divided into two tranches of €3,700,000 and €3,200,000; the municipality of Alghero (€5,700,000); the municipality of Oristano (€4,800,000); the municipality of Quartu Sant'Elena (€2,500,000); the municipality of Nuoro (€4,700,000); The municipalities of Ittiri, Ploaghe, Buddusò, Dorgali, and Posada will receive a total of €13,000,000 (plus €680,000 from 2014-2020 FSC funds), which will be distributed based on the size of the projects and the needs already identified by the operator, Abbanoa. The same will apply to the municipalities of San Gavino Monreale, Sanluri, Villasor, Sant'Antioco, and Villaputzu, which will receive a total of €12,400,000 (plus €673,950 from 2014-2020 FSC funds). The selection of the municipalities and their water networks for intervention was the subject of a joint evaluation conducted by the Regional Agency of the Hydrographic District of Sardinia (ADIS), EGAS, and Abbanoa.

One of the factors taken into consideration to identify the major critical issues and thus establish a prioritization order, it is reported, "was the water balance for 2023 and 2024. The most critical situations were identified by evaluating the volume of total water losses during the water distribution phase, calculated as the difference between the volumes injected into the network and the volumes actually supplied, thus classifying the municipal networks in terms of annual volumes lost, both in absolute terms and as a percentage. A further criterion for identifying priorities, with the aim of best distributing the available financial resources, was to identify the municipal networks already subject to specific FSC 2014-2020 or PNRR funding, currently underway, and to plan further interventions only in the municipalities experiencing the greatest difficulties or in particularly deficient situations."

(Unioneonline)

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