Good wastewater management for environmental protection

Acquedotto Pugliese (AQP) is the operator of the Integrated Water Service in the largest ATO administrative zone of the Italy, ATO Puglia, with a surface area of 20,000 square kilometres and over 4 million inhabitants.
The company pioneered Italian and European water treatment services, by experimenting treatment plants as far back as the 1920’s. Today, AQP manages 185 water treatment plants in Puglia, one of the largest and most modern series of plants in Italy in terms of technology and of the quality of water produced. These results are reflected in the quality of the seawater, this contributing to the objectives of the Mission.
The water treated by AQP is increasingly often used by agriculture. In June 2022 alone, the water treatment plants of Castellana Grotte, Acquaviva delle Fonti, Corsano, Gallipoli and Ostuni permitted the recovery of almost 600,000 cubic metres of purified water to be allocated to irrigation. Now, there is a sixth plant, that of Fasano-Forcatella operated since the summer of 2023. However, 15 of the water treatment plants operated have already been adapted for the use of water in agriculture and the procedure for purifying wastewater for reuse has been started for another 42 plants, with specific interventions or improvements to the infrastructure.
One of these plants, that of Castellana Grotte, is also playing the leading role in a unique experiment: the first aquaponics farm in Europe using purified water for agricultural production and fish farming. The project is called AWARE (aquaponics from wastewater reclamation) and will experiment a production that uses 90% less water than traditional farming. The project began this summer when a memorandum of understanding was signed with the various private and institutional subjects involved. The project is expected to be completed in 2026.
Continuing with water treatment, 34 water treatment plants operated by AQP release their water to the soil by means of systems with the most restrictive release limits envisaged by current legislation systems (trench drains or sewage farms). The virtuous management of the trench drains supplied by treated wastewater has aided the formation of wetlands in some of them, like Casamassima and Gioia del Colle, which have been transformed into oases for feeding and reproduction of resident or migrating species, of enormous natural interest.
The Melendugno phyto-treatment plant is a particular case. Extending for around eight hectares, with water expanses covering five hectares and six phyto-treatment/lagooning tanks, it is one of the largest in Italy. It started operating in 2010 and also serves the towns of Calimera and Martignano. Phyto-treatment is a technology that uses the purifying capacity of natural ecosystems. The phyto-treatment plants represent an alternative to traditional water treatment plants, with advantages from an economic viewpoint (energy savings, limited management costs) and from an environmental one (elimination of disinfection treatment and of the relevant by-products, improved inclusion in the surrounding landscape).
Once again in 2023, for the third consecutive year, Puglia has confirmed itself as the first in Italy in terms of the quality of the bathing water, with 99.8 per cent of the waters considered excellent. This is attested by the microbiological analyses carried out from 2019 to 2022 by the national System for the protection of the environment, a network that also includes ARPA Puglia.