Many and varied interventions by the municipality of Rimini to protect and preserve the ‘blue gold’. Councilor Anna Montini: “projects to safeguard the water resource and reduce the use of disposable plastic: the future of cities depends on ecological awareness”.
Water is a precious commodity, which, like every year, is celebrated on March 22nd with a World Day, an anniversary established by the United Nations in 1922 within Agenda 21 to raise awareness among institutions and public opinion on importance of combating water waste and adopting virtuous behaviors to combat climate change. A primary resource, also known as ‘blue gold’ which the Municipality of Rimini has for years aimed at making its citizens use in a sustainable way also thanks to its extensive network of ‘Water Houses’, a basin of 10 urban springs spread across the territory of which the last two were inaugurated last year: one in Marecchiese, at the intersection with via Montese and the other in Torre Pedrera, in via Apollonia. A number that will soon be further expanded with the integration of further ‘urban sources’ thanks to a contribution from Romagna Acqua and Atersir as part of an agreement with the administration for the construction of three small houses to be located in the Gaiofana areas, Ina Casa (Largo Bordoni) and delle Celle, near the Coop. This trio will thus be added, in addition to the two in via Marecchiese-Montese and in via Apollonia (Torre Pedrera), to those located in various points of the city: in the service station in via Coriano 223 (house of Fortech water), the water house in Parco Cervi (via Roma) and those in via Lagomaggio, in via Montescudo/Via Bidente, in via Baroni in Viserba, in Parco Rodari in Santa Giustina, in via Parigi in Miramare and in via Euterpe. In this regard, in the coming months, Adriatica Acque will proceed with extraordinary maintenance interventions on the oldest and most used structures which will be graphically redeveloped and made more efficient at the plant level with a particular focus on those in via Euterpe, in via Bidente (Viromo Maggio village ) and the one located along Via Roma. Please remember that these systems – on the walls of which there are, among other things, images of some of the city’s symbolic monuments – are in operation 24 hours a day. A service with reference points increasingly appreciated by citizens, as also demonstrated by the numbers: a daily average of one thousand liters of fresh water supplied, with a supply, from 2011 to today, of almost 44 million liters of water which translates in a potential saving of over 30 and a half million one and a half liter plastic bottles and 5 million tonnes of CO2 emissions avoided.
Moving on to major works, however, we cannot fail to mention the PSBO, the plan implemented by the Municipality of Rimini, the Hera group, Amir and Romagna Acque for a total value of over 200 million euros, crowned by the UN as one of the largest works in the protection of marine environments. Born in 2013 with the aim of eliminating bathing bans following rain events, since 2019 it has also pursued and included the objective of hydraulic protection of the urbanized territory. In total, 6 sea discharges of the 8 in which complete separation of the networks is envisaged have been completely redeveloped, while work is underway for the remaining two. Added to these is the full functionality of the Piazzale Kennedy plant which has canceled the bathing bans in the corresponding stretch of sea, to which will be added the two new lamination tanks, with respective viewpoints, in Bellariva (at the end of Viale Firenze) and Rivazzurra (in viale Regina Margherita). Once the work on the last 2 basins to the south (Colonella 2 and Rodella) has been completed, it will be possible to achieve the absence of bathing bans also in the Colonnella 1, Colonnella 2 and Rodella bathing waters, thus intervening on all twelve spillways and thus completing the work of the PSBO, which integrates environmental and sea protection with urban redevelopment and hydraulic safety.
We also remember the work in the former In.Cal System quarry, an area included in the Natura 2000 network sites of the Emilia-Romagna region, where an experimental intervention was developed aimed at combating drought and increasing the water availability of the aquifers , with the aim of recharging them especially during dry periods. A project that will be further expanded with a work intended for the reuse, through the basins of Lake Azzurro and Lake Santarini, of the waters coming from the Marecchia river through the Mulini canal.
“From large and majestic infrastructures to initiatives that might seem of smaller scope, there are numerous and varied interventions that as the municipal administration, in collaboration with other bodies and private individuals, we have implemented with the aim of giving life to sustainable processes that aim to preserve and safeguard the water resource – is the comment of the councilor for the ecological transition of the municipality of Rimini, Anna Montini – Today’s World Day invites us as an administration and as a community to reflect on the value of ecological awareness and projects for adaptation and mitigation to climate change, also aware of how water is a fundamental resource for life that needs to be preserved in its purity and of which it is imperative to avoid waste. The future starts here.”