Water Alliance and La Sapienza create the first ‘identity card’ of Lombardy's waters, confirming their goodness, quality, and safety

Water Alliance celebrates World Water Day with the ‘identity card’ of Lombardy's waters, based on data from a study carried out by the thirteen managers of Lombardy's water service and La Sapienza University

Good, safe, high-quality tap water of alpine origin. This is one of the many findings that emerged from the isotopic screening conducted since 2017 by the thirteen companies of Water Alliance, the largest association of water utilities at the national level, and the Sapienza University of Rome.
Research, thanks to cutting-edge methods and techniques that have made it possible to analyze water molecules to trace their origin and age, has ensured a mapping of our region's water tables.
The excellent results allow us to celebrate with pride, but also with an awareness of its value, World Water Day, which is celebrated today, Monday, March 22. A particularly significant day for the managers of Lombardy's integrated water service, who strive every day to provide the more than 8 million citizens of Lombardy with good, safe, and controlled water, and who promote the protection of a crucial resource for the planet.

And water in Lombardy is precisely the focus of the study, based on a chemical-physical analysis of 200 water samples taken from wells scattered throughout Lombardy, which confirmed that the water from the aquifers analyzed is not only safe but also of high quality, because it comes from the Alpine arc and is rich in the minerals it collects along its path through gravels and rocks, and it is safe because it is separated from surface waters that undergo the effects of pollution resulting from human activity. Furthermore, the journey it makes from the source to its destination is nearly a century long, since, according to the research, our water is more than sixty years old and derives from the melting of glaciers and snow in the Alpine arc.

In light of this study, it was possible to define a sort of ‘identity card’ for Lombard water that describes its origin, age, and quality:

  1. The Lombard groundwater is homogeneous in origin because it consists of water melted from the glaciers or snow of the Alpine arc. Therefore, this water has no relation to local rainwater and that of surface watercourses.
  1. The vast majority of groundwater resources are derived from alpine or at least piedmont/pre-alpine areas.
  2. This water is not only protected, but preserves its characteristics and the minerals that compose it over time. The separation of surface water from deeper groundwater and the overlapping layers of impermeable soil guarantee its protection from pollutants throughout its journey.
  1. Most of the analyzed waters have an age of more than 50-60 years

“We knew it, but now we reiterate it with even greater force: Lombard water is excellent. The results emerging from the study are further proof of the goodness, healthiness, and safety of the water resource that we are fortunate to consume. If it is a privilege to enjoy sources of such quality, we should consider it a responsibility and a duty to value it, but also to guard and preserve it, avoiding waste.” comments Eng. Enrico Pezzoli, President of Como Acqua, Sole Manager of the Integrated Water Service.

The “identity card” of Lombardy’s water therefore confirms the healthiness and quality of the water we drink every day. Water Alliance’s commitment is to protect it daily through awareness-raising actions and enhancement processes, in light of climate change which threatens what is to all intents and purposes our blue gold.