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Acea Ato 2 for the community

We are committed to managing water resources in an ethical and sustainable manner, focusing on quality of service, and protecting the environment.

Acea Ato 2 and local community Acea Ato 2 and local community Acea Ato 2 and local community

Water resource protection projects 

The safeguard of the water resource and the sustainable use of natural resources have a more and more central role in our strategy. We work to ensure services that are increasingly efficient, so to generate value for the communities and areas in which we operate. Since 2019, we have an organisational department expressly dedicated to the protection of the water resource, aimed at reducing water losses, optimising the water network management, and safeguarding the water supply sources.

Water losses in Rome from 2019 and 2023

The results of the works carried out are already clear, if we observe the trend of water losses in the network of the city of Rome in the last five years: in 2023, Acea Ato 2 has reached a water loss level of 27.8%, considering an average national level equal to approximately 38.4%.

Water leaks in Rome

The search for water losses

Water losses can have different causes: administrative or apparent losses are those connected to consumptions not included in the bill (e.g. due to measurement errors in the counters, or unauthorised supplies). On the other hand, physical or real losses are those caused by actual leakage along the supply and distribution network.  These losses are the most relevant in terms of environmental sustainability.

To contain water losses along the network, we carry out broad research campaigns using innovative technologies, so to locate losses without having to perform excavations, thus allowing us to retrieve millions of cubic metres of water.

Protecting water resources: the 4 pillars of Acea Ato 2

Leakage containment: we locate water losses using electro-acoustic instruments (noise logger system), so the search is carried out without excavations or disruptive techniques, reducing the impact on the area.

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Network districting: we have divided the water network of Rome and of the other municipalities we serve into water districts using the DMA (District Metering Area) method, which allows to optimise pressure values and, thanks to the precise control on each individual component, to timely locate the onset of any possible leakage or anomaly.

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Protection of the sources: we safeguard the sources in more complex conditions through our plan of minor sources decommissioning. We implement water availability predictive models, in order to plan a sustainable use of the resource.            

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Measurement process: we optimise readings thanks to a centralised management system and remotely-connected meters, so to be able to carry out correct assessments regarding the actions needed to protect the resource.

Checks on conduits and aqueducts

We constantly carry out in-depth checks on the aqueducts and largest supply conduits, in addition to interventions on water centres aimed at improving their management and optimising pressure values in the water distribution network.

Among the interventions carried out in the course of the year, Acea Ato 2 had installed 154 water valves for the optimisation of the operating pressure values of the distribution network, and it has recovered around 68 km of water resource; moreover, the company has completed the realisation of important supply conduits, able to increase the resilience of complex municipal systems, with specific reference to the following interconnections: Marcio Aqueduct - Simbrivio Aqueduct (located in Albano Laziale), and Galilei Reservoir - Montanucci Reservoir (located in Civitavecchia).
To increase the resilience of the aqueduct system serving the city of Rome, we are handling the realisation of new strategic works on the Peschiera and Marcio aqueducts, using innovative and sustainable technical solutions.

The implementation of Water Safety Plans (WSPs)

Since 2004, the World Health Organization (WHO) has proposed an approach to the protection of drinking water based on the Water Safety Plan (WSP): a management and control model extended to the entire drinking water supply chain.

This approach was introduced in Europe by Directive 2015/1787 and in Italy by the Decree of Ministry of Health of 14 June 2017.

With the implementation of the new Directive 2020/2184, which took place last January 2023, the implementation of the WSPs for the supply systems will be mandatory, and must be carried out for the first time by 12 July 2029, with subsequent reviews at periodic intervals.

Given the complexity and extent of the entire water scheme, where all the Aqueducts converge towards a unitary and interconnected sorting system to the water networks, starting in 2019 Acea Ato 2 has as a priority decided to analyse the main aqueduct systems of ATO2 and subsequently the municipal distribution networks.

June 2022 saw the completion and submission to the Ministry of Health of the WSPs of the Peschiera-Capore, Appio Alessandrino, Simbrivio, Marcio, Laurentino, Nuovo Vergine and Doganella aqueduct systems, covering approximately 90% of the users served by the water service.

In order to complete the assessment for the entire drinking water supply chain, as indicated in the WHO guidelines, during 2022 Acea Ato 2 continued the implementation of the WSPs for distribution networks and small supply sources with the municipalities of Albano Laziale, Marcellina and Manziana.

Acea Ato 2, in 2023, has concluded and transmitted the PSA for the municipalities of Albano Laziale, Manziana and Marcellina, and started the preparation of the Risk Management Plan (PGR) of the purifier CoBIS in accordance with the Regulation (EU) 2020/741 being implemented in Italy. 

The Company, following the enactment of D. Lgs 18/23 transposing the Directive (EU) 2020/2184 and provides for the implementation by 2029 of 100% of PSA for the entire water supply chain managed, continued the work of implementation of PSA, drafting those relating to the supply and distribution systems of the municipalities of Grottaferrata, Palestrina and Rignano Flaminio, according to the new national guidelines (ISTISAN Report 22/33).

Highlights

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