In Italy, the non-conventional water resources represent a small percentage of the natural freshwater. On the basis of the limited available information, this chapter describes at first the development of the use of desalinated water. In a first stage, this has been achieved in industrial factories through two-purpose plants aimed at producing electric energy and desalinated water. Later, most of recent desalination plants have been built either to solve significant water shortages occurred during severe droughts in Southern Italian regions or to integrate or replace the water supply guaranteed by shipping service for small islands, affected by a very high increase of tourism. The other significant non-conventional resource of interest, i.e. the reclaimed water, is still marginally used in spite of the advanced available research on their application and the project planning of several wastewater reuse systems in various Italian regions. Wastewater reuse has been proposed mainly to meet agricultural and landscape irrigation demands or industrial and urban demands. The implementation of the projects has been very limited, due either to the constraints of the legislation regulating the water reuse quality standards or to the high costs of additional treatment processes in comparison to the supply costs of other conventional resources. Finally, the chapter provides an estimate of the potential for wastewater reuse in Italy, based on a survey of urban wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) at regional level. The chapter also highlights potential benefits of reuse for irrigation purposes in a region (Sicily), through the analysis of the urban WWTPs in operation or under construction and the nearby areas of irrigation.

Assessment of Non-conventional Water Resources

Giuseppe CIRELLI
Secondo
Membro del Collaboration Group
;
2020-01-01

Abstract

In Italy, the non-conventional water resources represent a small percentage of the natural freshwater. On the basis of the limited available information, this chapter describes at first the development of the use of desalinated water. In a first stage, this has been achieved in industrial factories through two-purpose plants aimed at producing electric energy and desalinated water. Later, most of recent desalination plants have been built either to solve significant water shortages occurred during severe droughts in Southern Italian regions or to integrate or replace the water supply guaranteed by shipping service for small islands, affected by a very high increase of tourism. The other significant non-conventional resource of interest, i.e. the reclaimed water, is still marginally used in spite of the advanced available research on their application and the project planning of several wastewater reuse systems in various Italian regions. Wastewater reuse has been proposed mainly to meet agricultural and landscape irrigation demands or industrial and urban demands. The implementation of the projects has been very limited, due either to the constraints of the legislation regulating the water reuse quality standards or to the high costs of additional treatment processes in comparison to the supply costs of other conventional resources. Finally, the chapter provides an estimate of the potential for wastewater reuse in Italy, based on a survey of urban wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) at regional level. The chapter also highlights potential benefits of reuse for irrigation purposes in a region (Sicily), through the analysis of the urban WWTPs in operation or under construction and the nearby areas of irrigation.
2020
978-3-030-36459-5
wastewater reuse
reclaimed water
non-conventional water resources
Italy
desalinated water
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11769/424554
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