Italy’s water Crisis

Parched fields stretch into the distance near Pienza, Tuscany, at the end of the long hot summer of 2017. This was Italy’s driest for sixty years with rainfall an alarming 80 percent below the historic average.

Summer 2017 saw agriculture suffer as fields dried up. Satellite data showed that although Tuscany regularly experiences drier than normal conditions, the situation in 2017 was particularly intense and persistent.

Northern Italy receives twice as much rain as the south with central Italy, including Tuscany, receiving around 22 percent of Italy’s total precipitation—around 31.5 inches (800mm) per year.

Most Italian cities have public drinking fountains that have provided free drinking water for hundreds of years. Today, in the center of Florence, some of these fountains are being switched off.

Public drinking fountains often run continuously whether people are drinking from them or not. Usually the unused water is wasted, pouring into storm drains to be carried away rather than recycled.

This beautifully crafted water fountain stands dull and dry in a side street of the small walled city of Castiglion Fiorentino. Such fountains were once symbolic of public service and plentiful water.

The Chiana Canal was dug to drain swampland. Thirty years ago, this river was in full flow and had an abundance of fish but now it often dries up completely during the summer months.

A typical tap delivers around 3.5 gallons (16 liters) of water every minute, while it’s estimated that a leaky tap can waste around 4,000 gallons (20,000 liters) of water a year.

Pre-rinsing dishes under a running tap remains a widespread practice despite being largely unnecessary thanks to dishwashers. It’s an act that wastes up to eight gallons (38 liters) of water each time we do it.

Dishwashers filter and recycle water, using on average 2.6 gallons (12 liters per load) compared to nearly 27 gallons (122 liters) for handwashing in the sink.