The new contract, new management bodies, and the new spokesperson Enrico Pezzoli, president of Como Acqua, was elected unanimously.

Water Alliance – Acque di Lombardia is launching a new network agreement to enable the thirteen companies that make up Italy's first network of public water utilities to further strengthen the synergies built in recent years and to guarantee an increasingly sustainable and innovative water service throughout Lombardy.

The network contract signed by Acque Bresciane, Alfa, BrianzAcque, Como Acqua, Gruppo CAP, Gruppo TEA, Lario Reti Holding, MM, Padania Acque, Pavia Acque, SAL, SECAM, and Uniacque represents a crucial piece in the integration process of the Lombardy water utility system, taking the contractual form of a joint venture and thus undertaking new joint activities. Among these, research activities stand out, which will facilitate the launch of highly innovative projects on a regional and supra-regional scale; the strengthening of activities concerning network digitalization; Human Resources activities, which will also see the creation of a Water Alliance Academy, designed to train new talents who can contribute to the modernization of the water utility world; and finally, activities regarding sustainability, to further develop the eco-sustainable approach that the Network has always adopted.

“The new network contract opens a new phase in the development of Water Alliance, because it guarantees greater integration among the companies and provides the legal and governance tools to strengthen jointly conducted activities,” commented Alessandro Russo, president of Gruppo CAP and outgoing spokesperson for Water Alliance. “Since 2015, thanks to the commitment of all the network companies, their presidents, directors, and employees, to whom I extend my heartfelt thanks, we have managed to build virtuous dynamics, creating the largest conglomerate of water utilities at the national level. Suffice it to think of the network of laboratories with which we have carried out increasingly detailed water analyses, the Webgis – Acque di Lombardia with which we have digitized a large part of Lombard networks, and our commitment to sustainability, which has materialized in training activities in schools, as well as joint tenders for the purchase of green energy. The new contract and the new governance,” Russo concluded, “will allow Water Alliance to face the challenges of the restart and the European Green Deal as a protagonist.”.

Born on April 24, 2015, through the network contract signed by BrianzAcque, Gruppo CAP, Lario Reti Holding, Padania Acque, Pavia Acque, SAL, SECAM, and Uniacque, in January 2020 Water Alliance expanded to include all Lombardy water service operators thanks to the entry of Alfa, Acque Bresciane, Como Acqua, Gruppo Tea, and MM. With a turnover of approximately one billion euros and more than 3,600 employees, and thanks to a water network of about 40,000 kilometers and a sewage network of about 34,000, Water Alliance supplies more than 1,200 Lombard municipalities, for a total of eight and a half million inhabitants served. These are significant figures that make Water Alliance the leading water utility cluster nationwide.

The new network contract also saw the redefinition of governance, designed to make decision-making processes faster yet shared. The Council of Networked Businesses has been created, consisting of one representative for each company, which will deal with defining the network's strategy, and the Management Body, which will handle the operational implementation of the strategic guidelines outlined by the Council.

The Board is composed as follows: Paolo Saurgnani, General Manager of Acque Bresciane; Paolo Mazzucchelli, President of Alfa; Enrico Boerci, President of BrianzAcque; Enrico Pezzoli, President of Como Acqua; Alessandro Russo, President of Gruppo CAP; Massimiliano Ghizzi, President of Gruppo Tea; Lelio Cavallier, President of Lario Reti Holding; Simone Dragone, President of MM; Cristian Chizzoli, President of Padania Acque; Luigi Pecora, President of Pavia Acque; Giuseppe Negri, President of SAL; Gildo De Gianni, CEO of SECAM; and Pierangelo Bertocchi, CEO of Uniacque. The Council of network companies unanimously chose Enrico Pezzoli, President of Como Acqua, as its spokesperson, and Massimiliano Ghizzi, President of Gruppo TEA, as the contact person for relations with other public utilities associations.

“The role is important and it fills me with pride to know that my appointment is the result of a unanimous choice by all the Presidents, for whom I will be the spokesperson. At the beginning of a three-year path, like the one ahead of me, the intention is to confirm what has been done so far, strengthening the role that Water Alliance can play at decisive discussion tables in order to truly «make a difference.» I am stimulated, given the issues we deal with, by the idea that the single voice of these thirteen allied companies will be mine. The network's numbers alone make clear the weight that an effective and consolidated alliance—like Water Alliance—can have in implementing the best practices in public water management, explains Engineer Enrico Pezzoli, President and CEO of Como Acqua.

At the helm of the Management Body, Michele Falcone has been appointed, General Manager of Alfa and Strategic Development Director of Gruppo CAP. The members making up the body, in addition to Falcone, are: Vincenzo Lombardo, General Manager of Lario Reti Holding; Stefano Cetti, General Manager of MM; Stefano Ottolini, General Manager of Padania Acque; Stefano Bina, General Manager of Pavia Acque; Carlo Locatelli, General Manager of SAL, and Stefano Sebastio, General Manager of Uniacque.