Water segment - Overview

The Acea Group is a leader in Italy in terms of number of citizens served and one of the primary operators in the water sector. Activities regarding water resource management in all phases of the integrated water service are performed with the aim of preserving water and natural ecosystems from springs to surface bodies where water returns into the environment. Safeguarding of water resources is also expressed through recovering leaks (see the section Attention to the use of water resources), the circular economy, activities to combat climate change, protection of springs and other sites of interest at an EU, regional or local level and natural parks (see section Safeguarding of land and biodiversity) and also monitoring of internal water consumption, with the end goal of reducing consumption.
The total pool of users served in Italy by the Group¹⁸⁵ is about 8.6 million residents, with volumes of drinking water fed into the network in 2022 equal to 1,285 million cubic metres. The distribution networks of the main Group Companies operating within the integrated water service stretches approximately 54,700 km (see Chart no. 53).

Chart no. 53 – The water distribution network of the main Group Companies in Italy (2022)

NOTE: the kilometres of network include the aqueducts

The volume of drinking water drawn and fed into the grid by Acea Ato 2, Acea Ato 5, Gori, AdF and Gesesa in 2022 was approximately 1,010 million cubic metres, with a total delivery¹⁸⁶ of 474 million cubic metres to more than 6.1 million citizens. The specific data on the three Companies, are provided in the Environmental Accounts.
99.9% of the volumes drawn are fresh water, with the remainder, less than 1 million m3 being seawater and drawn in Tuscany by AdF. The sources are located in areas at potential risk of water stress, as defined by the map of the Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas, drawn up by the World Resources Institute (WRI)¹⁸⁷ that illustrates the water availability of the different countries, taking into consideration risks caused by climate change, including extreme weather events such as drought and flooding. 
The Companies within the Water Area in the water segment implement various initiatives to mitigate the impacts associated with these risks, including Water Safety Plans (see the section "Water Safety Plans - WSPs"), actions to minimise leaks on distribution networks and investments to secure water supplies.
In OTA 2 - Lazio Centrale, which includes Rome and 112 other municipalities¹⁸⁸, as at 31 December 2022 Acea Ato 2 managed the entire integrated water service¹⁸⁹ for 89¹⁹⁰ municipalities, thanks to the completion of the acquisition in 2022 of the management contracts for Agosta, Anguillara Sabazia, Anticoli Corrado, Campagnano di Roma, Civitella San Paolo, Marano Equo, Roviano, Sant'Angelo Romano and Trevi nel Lazio. The volume of water drawn and issued from and to the network, serving approximately 4 million citizens, was approximately 663 million cubic metres¹⁹¹.

185 The data for total number of citizens served by the water business, volume fed into the network, and size of the networks and checks on the water (shown in specific charts) include the main Operating Companies of the Group, including those outside the scope of the Consolidated Non-Financial Statement: Acque, Publiacqua and Umbra Acque.
186 This refers to the total amount of drinking water dispensed and billed by the Companies within the scope.
187 For identification of areas under water stress, as indicated by the Standard GRI 303, the Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas was employed, available on the World Resource Institute website: https://www.wri.org/aqueduct.
188 On 14.07.2021 with Regional Council Resolution no. 10, which followed Regional Executive Resolution no. 752 of 03.11.2020, Optimal Territorial Area no. 2, Central Lazio- Rome, was modified including in it the Municipality of Campagnano di Roma, which previously belonged to OTA no. 1 North Lazio-Viterbo.
189 Acea was entrusted with the running of the capital’s aqueduct service since 1937, the water treatment system since 1985 and the entire sewerage system since 2002, effective 1 January 2003.
190 In 17 other municipalities the integrated water service was managed partially.
191 The water balance items for the last three years were determined using the calculation criteria provided by ARERA. The figure does not include the municipalities subject to exemptions in 2022 for the macro-indicator M1 pursuant to ARERA Resolution 917/2017/R/idr. See also the Environmental Accounts.