• 04 Mar 2016

The Authority, which has been regulating the water service since 2012, aims to harmonise and improve the efficiency of the system and ensure that the same rules are adopted across the country. At the same time it is focusing on investments, which in Italy are inadequate and have prompted the European Union to initiate numerous procedures for environmental offences, especially in the sewerage and wastewater treatment sector. After initially overhauling the system in the period 2012-2015, new rules have now been introduced for the next 4 years (2016-2019). These rules aim to stimulate investment in order to make up for the accumulated delay, “while at the same time guaranteeing the sustainability of charges applied to users”, explains the Authority. The goals for the next four-year period include improving the quality of services and promoting aggregation in order to rationalise operations and improve the overall efficiency of the water system.

 

Given that the water sector currently has around 1,700 operators with widely varying levels of service, in the 2nd tariff period 2016-2019 the national Authority intends to establish the same quality standards for all operators in terms of contractual relationships, billing, response to complaints and access to branches, resolving previous discrepancies and automatically compensating users in the event of failure to meet these standards. Minimum billing requirements have been introduced according to annual average consumption: half-yearly for up to 100 cubic metres, four-monthly for between 101 and 1,000 cubic metres, quarterly for between 1,001 and 3,000 cubic metres and bimonthly for more than 3,000 cubic metres. Services must be completed within an established maximum time. For example, a quote for a water connection with site inspection must be provided within 20 days and a new or transferred water supply contract must be completed within 5 days. Operators must guarantee the new standards as of 1 July 2016 and all the required mechanisms must be fully in place by 1 January 2017.

 

Ultimately, the Authority aims to encourage investment and achieve an adequate level of service across the country, bearing in mind that only an estimated 56% of the necessary investments have been made. For this reason, between 2014 and 2017 the Authority has planned investment spending of 4.5 billion euros based on the proposals made by the Area Boards. This largely involves modernising networks and systems, adapting sewerage and wastewater treatment systems to European directives and reducing water losses. The Authority believes that total investments of 25 billion euros are needed by 2018 to satisfy the demands of the European Union.