Water will be free for everyone up to 50 liters per day. This is foreseen by the latest version of the Bill "on the protection, governance and public management of water" approved on Wednesday afternoon by the Chamber of Deputies - with 243 votes in favour, 129 against and two abstentions - and now destined to address the Senate consideration.
"The daily provision for food and human hygiene, as a universal human right, is based on the free minimum vital quantity of 50 liters per day - specifies the text - which is guaranteed even in the event of non-payment". Therefore no detachment will be possible for arrears of up to 18.250 liters of annual consumption.
However, the novelty was not enough to appease the controversies triggered by the opposition which claimed – to the point of reaching the level of a real tussle, complete with the suspension of work in the courtroom – in particular against a change introduced. In the new text, the reference "as a priority" for assignments to public subjects has been eliminated. According to M5S and the Italian Left, the new formula contradicts the vote of the Italians with the referendum on water.
The new provision establishes some key principles: the right to quality drinking water and sanitation services must be guaranteed without interruption; water is a common good and all surface water and groundwater are public and cannot be traded; water is a resource which is safeguarded and used according to criteria of efficiency and solidarity, responsibility and sustainability; the use of water for human consumption takes priority over the use for agriculture and animal feed; for all other uses, the use of recycled water is favoured.
As has been said, the additional guarantee on the "minimum viable quantity”. The intent of the law is to prevent the primary asset of water from being sacrificed in cases of real need but it risks widening the range of "allowed" arrears, within the limits of 50 litres/day.
The integrated water service is considered a local public service of general economic interest guaranteed to the community, which can also be entrusted directly to entirely public companies, in possession of the requisites prescribed by the European legislation for in-house management (this is of those management companies directly controlled by the Municipality), in any case participated by all the local authorities falling within the ATO (Optimum Territorial Ambit). Method of assignment for which, following an amendment approved by the Chamber, the formula `as a priority' has been dropped.
The integrated water service cannot be supported through general taxation but must be supported by the tariffs defined by the Authority for Energy and the Water System, by national resources, such as the Fund on water resources set up by the Italian law decree, and by those European Unions intended for government bodies to ensure essential levels of service throughout the national territory. In any case, meters for consumption must be installed in every single home, production or commercial activity, favoring remote reading via the electricity grid.
Italy, it should be remembered, is a country where alongside cases of excellence in the management of the water service, however, there is an average water dispersion of 35% - over 3 billion cubic meters of water per year end up in nothing. Many Regions still do not have adequate aqueducts, sewers and purifiers and for this reason they are subjected to infringement procedures in Europe which weigh on the pockets of their citizens. Finally, many have not equipped themselves with an efficient organization of the integrated water service, disregarding regulations for decades now.
The Government is therefore delegated to issue, by 31 December, a Legislative Decree for the release and renewal of water withdrawal concessions, including cases of transfer of the company branch. The contribution of one cent per bottle of mineral water, in plastic material, will go to support cooperation projects for access to drinking water and sanitation services financed by the National International Solidarity Fund.
