Attention to water consumption

For Acea, the rational use of water is a fundamental prerequisite in the conduct of its business, therefore all Companies are committed to optimising its use and seeking recovery and recycling solutions, with a view to circular economy and resource protection.

The main water consumption is related to production processes, such as the production of thermal energy at the Tor di Valle plant, that of electrical energy at the waste-to-energy plants and the production of compost. Furthermore, water is also used in laboratory activities, albeit in small quantities. Finally, water is an integral part of purification activities, in particular in plants equipped with anaerobic digesters.

The Companies in the Environment segment limit the consumption of drinking water, mainly using water from wells (including for civil uses, after sanitisation). In addition, rainwater recovery systems are active at the San Vittore del Lazio, Orvieto, Aprilia and Terni plants, and since 2019 the latter has two rainwater collection tanks equipped with a filtration system and storage tanks. Aprilia’s composting plant has a system for the treatment of residual water from waste awaiting processing for reuse in production processes, and at the San Vittore del Lazio waste-to-energy plant rainwater is used in the production of demineralized water, after treatment in a specific chemical-physical plant. Finally, the Orvieto plant hub collects rainwater through the roofs of some buildings, keeps it in underground storage tanks and then uses it in the compost maturation and storage phases. Thanks to the presence of these solutions at the plants, the volume of water recovered from the Environment Segment was around 27,000 m³.

In order to promote the reuse of purified wastewater, Acea Ato 2 completed the revamping of the COBIS plant during the year and began work to modernize the industrial network (non-potable water) connected to the purification plant in South Rome.

The water consumption of the Group, illustrated in table no. 61, refers both to industrial processes and civil uses¹³³. The increase in consumption in 2019 is particularly attributable to the users of the purification plants in South Rome and East Rome. In fact, at the purification plant in South Rome the startup of a new digestion department for the processing of organic sludge and the treatment systems of the emission points led to an increase in the use of the resource. At the purification plant in East Rome, on the other hand, due to critical issues related to the industrial network it was necessary to increase the use of water from the aqueduct. In this case as well in 2019 interventions for the renovation of the network were identified and planned.

TABLE NO. 61 – WATER CONSUMPTION OF THE GROUP’S MAIN COMPANIES (2017-2019)

(*) The volumes for 2017 and 2018 were restated and also include the figures for the Gori Company, which entered the scope in 2019.
(**) The item includes the water brought to the Aprilia plant through tankers (about 465 cubic meters in 2019).
(***) Consumption refers exclusively to the withdrawal from the Paglia river near the Orvieto composting plant.
(****) Civil consumption derives from: aqueduct (99.9%), well, tankers.

¹³³ Civil uses for the two-year period 2018-2019 also include the consumption of Acea Ato 2, which uses water in some water service management and purification activities. At the moment it is not possible to estimate purely industrial and civil uses.