Water losses

Sustainable management of water also requires minimising losses on distribution networks, with all operational Group Companies in the water area involved. Each year, intensive activity is carried out to identify leaks, quantified as described in Chart no. 55, with the aim of recovering the greatest possible quantity of water. The process of dividing the network into water districts is used to optimise operating pressures, reducing losses, with activities focused on losses in the most critical districts. With greater control of the individual parts of the network, it is possible to reduce losses, promptly identifying them or picking up on other anomalies.

Chart no. 55 – Water loss accounting model

NOTE: the image refers to the model of the International Water Association.

Overall, Acea Ato 2 has created 729 measurement districts for over 13,460 km of georeferenced distribution network. The activity consisted of surveys, flow and pressure measurements, map production, user analysis and water balancing, creation of measurement stations, installation of shut-off and adjustment elements, mathematical modelling and searches for leaks. The results of efficiency actions were imported into the GIS systems. In addition, 2022 saw optimisation of the quality of process measurements, through verification and calibration of meters installed on sources and drinking water plants, and progress in survey activity and georeferencing of networks. The measures reduced the volume of lost water resources by 4.2% compared to 2021 (a reduction of about 17% compared to 2019¹⁹⁴).
At Acea Ato 2, thanks to actions to improve service efficiency, overall losses fell to around 38.9%¹⁹⁵ in 2022 (39.9% in 2021) and total leaks across the Rome network also fell to 27.8% (28.6% in 2021). Data and reductions in losses for 2020-2021 are presented in the Environmental Accounts and for 2019 in the 2020-2024 Sustainability Plan in The Corporate Identity chapter.
In 2022, Acea Ato 5 completed district planning for the networks of nine new municipalities and improved efficiency in previously established districts to balance network operation and optimise the distribution service. The Company has created 100 new districts covering 856 km of network. Active control of pressures has continued, with the installation of meters, reducers and flow-control valves at strategic points (39 hydro valves installed during the year), with the goal of improving management of flows into the zones managed and reducing differences between daytime and nighttime pressure levels. Thanks to the measures implemented, leakage volumes decreased from 77.1 million m³ in 2021 to 70.7 million m³in 2022, reducing the total amount of water entered into the system from 115.8 million m³ to 109.8 million m³, an immediate savings of approximately 6 million m³. Losses fell in 2022 to 64.4% (66.5% in 2021), as shown in the Environmental Accounts.
AdF conducted intensive activity to search for system leaks on its own water networks, making considerable improvements to efficiency thanks to the provision of advanced technology to all operators, and inspecting around 2,500 km of the distribution network during the year. A further 430 km of network was monitored during the district planning process. Particular attention was paid to municipalities with higher water losses, such as Grosseto, where the action taken has enabled a reduction in the minimum night flow rate of about 60 l/s compared to 2021. The measures carried out led to reductions in water losses from 23.7 million m³in 2021 to 21.9 million m³in 2022, decreasing water losses to 37.2% in 2022 (39% in 2021). In 2022, AdF also defined a network monitoring project which involves updating the Waidy Management System with a threshold alarm system in over 600 districts.
During the year in question, Gori continued a structured course of action to optimise the water network in the municipalities of Nola, Angri, Nocera Inferiore, Castellammare di Stabia, Gragnano and Torre Annunziata. The actions taken were divided into distinct phases: integrative survey, district planning, modelling, and execution of pressure control and leak detection measures. The execution phase of the district planning works and the replacement of the most critical damaged pipelines was proposed to the Italian Ministry of Infrastructures and Sustainable Mobility in response to the call for "Expressions of Interest on the formulation of Project Proposals under Axis IV" (React - EU)¹⁹⁶. In the other municipalities in the Water District Zone, Gori conducted conventional leak detection controls systematically (at Angri, Nola, Castellammare Di Stabia, Sarno, Nocera Inferiore, Sorrento and Torre del Greco) and in response to faults across the entire managed area, with such actions taken on 1,528 km of the water network in 2022. In addition, it installed 8 pressure regulation valves and carried out reclamation works on approximately 14 km of water network, distributed across almost all OTA 3 municipalities. The combined action of these strategies enabled a recovery of water resources estimated at approximately 274 l/s over the entire Water District Zone. After the measures taken, total losses fell from 49.6% in 2021 to 47.1% in 2022.
At Gesesa, in 2022, a Recovery Plan was implemented for the water resources in the city of Benevento and other managed municipalities, which involves the replacement of damaged pipes, implementation of remote control technology, application of a system to reduce water leaks and reduction of operating pressures on the network. Losses for the year were 55.9% of total water fed into the aqueduct system (57.8% in 2021), reducing lost volumes from 11.2 million m³ in 2021 to 10 million m³in 2022. Actions will continue in 2023, involving all the Municipalities.
Overall, thanks to the actions taken by the company, losses fell by 6% in the year, from 465.7 mm³ in 2021 to 436.7 mm³. When compared to 2020 data (507.5 mm³), this reduction was 14%. See the Environmental Accounts for details on individual water balances.

194 See also the 2020-2024 Group Sustainability Plan.
195 Value calculated in line with the reporting boundary for total losses in 2019, the reference year for the targets defined in the 2020-2024 Group Sustainability Plan.
196 Gori was awarded a #50 million grant. The contracted works funded by the grant were delivered on 9 September 2022.