To guarantee a quality service and safe access to public water, companies involved in water service management today make use of new technologies, software and processes that make the entire water cycle sustainable, both environmentally and economically. This makes it possible to contain and identify leaks, sterilise and purify water without the use of hazardous chemicals, and monitor consumption and volumes present in the water network in real time.

No more leaks with drones and microwaves

To solve the longstanding problem of water network leaks, Acquedotto Pugliese, in collaboration with the University of Salento, has developed an innovative monitoring system called SIMPLe (System for Identifying and Monitoring Pipe Leaks), which uses the electromagnetic signals produced by water escaping from pipes, rather than acoustic localisation. This makes it possible to achieve extremely precise monitoring in a relatively short space of time, particularly when it comes to intervening on network leaks: in ten minutes, as many as six kilometres of pipework can be monitored. A modified drone — the ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle), equipped with cameras and sonar — can reach places that have never been accessed before, without even interrupting the flow of water. This saves hundreds of thousands of euros and allows drinking water to continue to be supplied to residents.

The Water Safety Plan for safe, drinkable water

Within the framework of the European Drinking Water Directive, Gruppo Cap has worked in recent years to improve the quality of tap water. The first company in Italy to do so, it adopted the Water Safety Plan, with the aim of strengthening controls on drinking water. This is a model that provides for a global risk management system covering the entire water supply chain, from abstraction to the end user. A new approach that makes it possible to decide, together with health authorities and other competent authorities, which parameters to monitor more frequently, or how to extend the list of substances to be kept under control in the event of public health concerns.

Hydrophones and remote meter reading

Monitoring thousands of kilometres of water network is no small feat. For this reason, Gruppo Hera has invested in new technologies and experimentation. In Riolo Terme, one of the municipalities served by the Group, a series of hydrophones fitted to hydrants "listens" for the sound of water escaping. This ensures precision and promptness in interventions. Hera, too, in collaboration with the Polytechnic University of Bari, is testing the detection and localisation of water leaks using the principle of microwave reflectometry. Also of interest is the recently launched trial of "Oscar", a field computer installed at the San Giorgio di Piano treatment plant, capable of optimising the facility's electricity consumption according to current flows, ensuring both cost savings and the safety of the plant itself.

Ultraviolet rays for public water

Many water service operators have, over the years, turned to new technologies for the purification of public water. Among these is the use of UV rays which, unlike chlorine, are effective even against certain types of viruses and bacteria, and are therefore capable of reducing pathogenic load. The use of this technology produces no hazardous secondary residues and does not alter the taste, odour or chemical composition of the water.

Fountains 2.0

Scattered throughout our cities, they often represent the history of the communities we live in. So why not make them technological? Gruppo Cap did just that with the ideas competition "Cap4Ideas", which invited young designers, engineers and architects to imagine the public water fountain of the future. The winning entry was In-VISIBLE, created by Carlotta Antonietti and Marzia Tolomei, students at the Polytechnic University of Milan, who envisioned the fountain as a silhouette: cut from a sheet of painted metal using laser cutting technique and bent to create the depth needed to conceal the pipe, it has a tap that appears to be merely drawn on, yet from which flows free, drinkable tap water.

What if we used ice for public water?

There is a less well-known but already widely used method for cleaning water and sewage networks and preventing blockages: ice pigging. This is a technique trialled by Groupe Suez, which to date has already treated 760 kilometres of pipework worldwide, of which 40 in Italy alone. The technology uses a solution of iced water and sodium chloride (table salt) at 5 per cent, to remove sediment and biofilm that have built up in pipes over time. Using this technique, 1 km of pipe can be cleaned per hour, no chemicals are required, and it also ensures that the workers carrying out the cleaning do not incur workplace accidents. The first experiment of this kind in San Giuliano Milanese was also carried out by Gruppo Cap. Here the "ice pig" was used in certain sections of the municipal water supply that have suffered for years from iron and manganese sedimentation — not harmful to human health — but which in high concentrations can alter the organoleptic properties of the water, such as its colour, odour and taste.

Public water for astronauts

What do astronauts drink during their missions 35,000 kilometres above the Earth's surface? The same water drunk by the residents of Turin. This is made possible thanks to a project by SMAT, the company that manages the integrated water service in the Turin metropolitan area, which, within its Water Preparation Facility, literally prepares water to be taken into orbit. 300 litres of water delivered to the ISS (International Space Station), with predetermined levels of calcium, magnesium and mineral salts, supplemented with fluoride ions, and treated with a silver salt-based disinfection process. In short, the very same water that flows from the taps of Turin also quenches the thirst of astronauts in orbit.