Water safety plans (WSPs)

The implementation of Water Safety Plans (WSP)²¹⁹ enables the prevention and reduction of the risks inherent in the drinking water service, by analysing dangerous events along the entire water supply chain, from collection to treatment and distribution, and through to the user's meter. The risk is calculated on the basis of the severity and probability of the pollution event or water shortage, defining risk mitigation actions, monitoring systems, the operating procedures under normal and emergency conditions, the water quality control plan, and methods for informing the public and competent authorities.

Acea Ato 2 began implementation of the WSPs in 2018 with a pilot project, completed in 2019, for the water system connected with the emergency drinking water plant for water from the Tiber River, in the Grottarossa area, under the supervision of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS)²²⁰. The Company then launched 10 WSPs for main aqueduct systems under its management, covering an area of approximately 640 km. In 2021, the WSPs for the Peschiera-Capore, Appio Alessandrino, Marcio, New and Old Simbrivio, Laurentino, and New Vergine aqueducts were submitted to the Italian Ministry of Health, followed by the WSP for the Doganella aqueduct system in 2022. In 2023, Acea Ato 2 completed and submitted the WSPs for the Municipalities of Albano Laziale, Manziana and Marcellina, and has begun drafting the Risk Management Plan (RMP) for the CoBIS treatment plant, in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2020/741 which is being implemented in Italy.

Following the issuing of Italian Legislative Decree 18/23, which transposes (EU) Directive 2020/2184 and requires the implementation of 100% of the WSPs by 2029 along the entire managed drinking water supply chain, the Company continued working on implementing the WSPs, preparing those relating to the supply and distribution systems for the Municipalities of Grottaferrata, Palestrina and Rignano Flaminio, based on the new national Guidelines (ISTISAN Report 22/33).

In 2023, AdF continued with the planned implementation of the WSPs according to a multi-year programme that will enable their full realisation across all water systems in the area by the end of 2028. More specifically, AdF developed the WSP for the 78 WSZ (Water Supply Zone) water system, corresponding to a resident population of 163,444 people, the equivalent of 43.2% of the total. In 2023, the Company further developed the application (PSApp), created in 2022 to standardise WSP implementation methodologies, which makes it possible to store data and automatically calculate the risk index for each plant and network, for each hazardous event identified and for each type of risk, both in relation to current scenarios as well as project scenarios referring to the priority risks identified. With this system, it will be possible to update evaluations and view the implementation status of control measures, providing full traceability and information to the competent authorities and monitoring the progress of each project against the project time line. After creating a cloud environment, also with Control Bodies, for the sharing of information on the drinking-water supply chain and

useful for the implementation and approval of WSPs,and then drawn up operating instructions and procedures for managing documents, cloud access and the operating instruction manual for risk management in 2022, Gori established a new multi-disciplinary team in 2023, which also extended to Asl, Arpac, the Campania Region and other entities. In line with the work already done, the pilot project has seen the WSP applied across all the infrastructure in the Municipality of Siano. The Wsp is being completed with regard to infrastructure in the Municipality of Castel San Giorgio and inspections have begun to compile the relative check-lists for the Municipality of Bracigliano. Gori organised training courses for 142 people to disseminate the WSP objectives and support its effective implementation.

In 2023, Gesesa continued with training plans and authorisations on the draining necessary to manage WSPs, which will be prepared in collaboration with the University of Sannio.
Acea Ato 5 drafted the WSP for the Anagni Tufano spring in 2023, which was shared with the Asl in Frosinone and ARPA Lazio.

219 The implementation of a Water Safety Plan (WSP) is required pursuant to the Decree of the Italian Ministry of Health of 14/06/2017, in implementation of EU Directive 2015/1787, which adopted the WSP methodology developed by the World Health Organization (WHO). In Italy, the Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS) has adopted WHO guidelines and approves WSPs.
220 For the WSP in question, in 2020 the initial draft of the Plan was finished and submitted to the Ministry of Health.