The water treatment market - Italy

1.2 Key figures of the world market

The global water treatment market is experiencing strong growth, driven by the growing needs of agriculture, but also by sectors that are relatively small today but will become very strategic in the years to come: seawater desalination and wastewater treatment.

According to Expertz Market Research The water treatment market is worth $*** billion in **** and is expected to reach $*** billion in ****.

Water treatment market value World, ****-****, billions of dollars Source: ****

Global demand for clean water and environmental concerns make water and wastewater treatment systems more important than ever. There are many factors contributing to the growth of the market. Among them are :

Population growth and rapid urbanization ; Increased attention to water quality and public health ; The increasing prevalence of waterborne diseases ; Increasing industrial demand ; Strict government regulations for wastewater treatment.

1.3 Italian market

Italian companies engaged in water treatment are those registered under ATECO code **.**. In ****, the industry's turnover was *.** billion euros. The value of turnover is growing strongly, in particular there was between **** and **** was **.*% increase.

Value of water treatment sector Italy, ****-****, billion euros Source:Istat Ateco **.**

The most diligent states are Austria, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, which treat *** percent of water, followed by Denmark, Latvia and Lithuania with ** percent.

Wastewater treatment percentage Europe, ****, percentage Source: ****

2.1 UWWTD Goals

In Italy, an estimated ** million p.e. of wastewater is used between industry, agriculture and inhabitants every day, which is equivalent to about **.* million cubic meters of water.

p.e is the English equivalent of the measure of"Population Equivalents ."the inhabitant equivalent is conventionally defined as the amount of biodegradable pollutant load produced and discharged into the sewer system by a permanent resident of the urban centerover the course of a day.

According to the UWWTD, the European Union's Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive, Italy is required to collect *** percent of its wastewater while momentarily still lacking *.* percent to reach the target of *.** million p.e. .

Wastewater collection Italy, ****, percentage Source: ****

Of all the water collected only **.** p.e. is treated, missing the European benchmarks by **.*%.

Biological water treatment Italy, ****, percent Source: ****

Finally, with respect to biological water treatment, the UWWTD requires that a percentage be treated by phosphorus or nitrogen to prevent bacteria and algae growth. The UWWTD requires that **.* million p.e. be treated this way, while Italy treats **.** million p.e. this way.

Water treatment with nitrogen and phosphorus Italy, ****, % Source: ****

2.2 Drinking water consumption

Drinking water use varies greatly by region. Lombardy is the Italian region that uses the most drinking water, with **** thousand cubic meters of water (***), followed by Lazio, ****, and Campania.

Source: ****

Water consumption in Italy is decreasing, according to the FAO, in **** it was ***.* cubic meters (***) per head for all uses, now water consumption stands at ***.* cubic meters. This large availability of water, at least in Italy, is unfortunately not managed in the most efficient way. For that intended for domestic use, ** liters of water for every *** put into the water supply is lost due to old and broken pipes.

Source of drinking water Italy, ****, percent Source: ****

2.3 Water and sectors

In Italy, the sector that uses the most potable water is agriculture,** percent, followed by industry, ** percent, and civilian, ** percent[***].

Drinking water use by sector Italy, ****, percent Source: ****

AGRICULTURE

The first sector for water consumption is agriculture. In Italy, water consumption for fields, forestry and fishing amounts to **.* million cubic meters. In this we are second in the European Union, behind Spain. If we are not surprised by Italian water consumption in agriculture, we are more surprised to find out that we are first in the "mining, manufacturing and construction" category. We also surpass Germany (***) versus *.* for the Germans.

The crops that require the most water use are fodder crops, ** percent, and corn, ** percent, followed by citrus, *.* percent, and vegetables, *.* percent.

For which crops is water used Italy, ****, percent Source: ****

Regarding livestock sectors, cattle farming **.*%, followed by pig farming **.*%, use the most water.

Distribution of water consumption in animal husbandry Italy, ****, percent Source: ****

INDUSTRY

Advances in current technology save more water than the technologies of years past. For example, in the ****s, it took between ** and *** tons of water to produce one ton of steel; today it takes only * tons. Aluminum, now often used as a substitute for steel, requires even ...

3.1 Value chain

PRODUCTION

According to Istat sources, **** million cubic meters of drinking water was withdrawn in ****, a number that is down from previous years given new policies against water waste.

Water withdrawn from sources in Italy Italy, ****-****, millions of cubic meters Source: ****

In particular, the Northwest regions withdrew the most water, **** million cubic meters[***].

TRANSPORT AND DISTRIBUTION

Through Istat data, it is possible to see how much water is injected and how much water is instead lost during transport. In ****, **** million metric cubes were injected but only **** million metric cubes were delivered, with more than ** percent of the water lost.

Amount of water injected and amount of water actually delivered in municipal drinking water distribution networks Italy, ****-****, million cubic meters Source: ****

Notably, in **** the macroregions with the most losses were the Islands with **.* percent of water lost.

3.2 The various types of wastewater treatment plants

Source: ****

3.3 Distribution

Though Istat does triennial censuses, the official data go back to ****. There are ***** facilities in operation.

The North has the largest number of plants: in order in Piedmont, Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy, and Veneto. **.*% are Imhoff tanks, **.*% secondary or advanced plants, *% primary plants. Lombardy and Veneto have many advanced plants. Although - proportionally - the South and Islands also have high percentages of advanced treatments. however, advanced-type plants - though not a majority - treat more than half (***) of pollutant loads.

Estimating potential effluent on the basis of Total Urban Equivalent Inhabitants and comparing it with what is actually purified, there is still a gap. The demand for purification is about ** million Inhabitants Equivalent, compared to ** million served. Civil pollutant loads are subjected to at least secondary treatment to the extent of **.* percent compared to potential. The percentage is **.* percent in the Northwest, lower percentages in the other areas of Italy with differences from Region to Region.Large plants, present mainly in the Northwest, purify **.* percent of the purified load in terms of equivalent Inhabitants and are predominantly tertiary/advanced. As for discharges, they occur in the sea (***)[***].

3.4 Firms and people working in the industry

The number of enterprises registered with Ateco code **.**.*, wastewater collection and treatment, in **** was **** enterprises and ***** employees in the sector.

The number of enterprises is slowly growing and with them the number of people employed in the system.

Number of enterprises and employees in the wastewater collection and treatment sector Italy, ****-****, units Source: Istat Ateco **.**.*

Type of enterprise Italy, ****, percent Source:Istat Ateco **.**.*

4.1 Types of water treatment

Several types of processes are used to treat water. These processes can be grouped into four categories: physical processes, chemical processes, physicochemical processes, and biological processes.

Physical processes :

Screening: water passes through mesh screens to remove any debris that may be present Simple sedimentation: heavy particles settle to the bottom of the basin naturally Filtration: water circulates through different filters (***) that retain different types of particles Buoyancy: compressed air is blown through the basin to push the particles upward

Chemical treatments are also needed to act on heavy metals and other materials and germs in the water:

Lime can be used to change the pH of the water Chlorine oxidation removes ammonia, iron, and prevents algae growth Ozone oxidation removes iron, manganese and micropollutants Chlorination and ozonation are used to disinfect the water at the end of the process

Physicochemical processes: during sedimentation, this type of process accelerates the deposition of particles on the bottom of the basin. There are two main methods:

Coagulation, carried out by adding iron or aluminum salts to the water Flocculation: water is slowly mixed to form clusters of increasingly larger particles

Biological processes use microorganisms naturally present in the water, breaking down materials already in ...

4.2 Prices

Prices vary widely, some water treatment companies use formulas, such as the one below to determine the final price of treatment.

T = F* + (***) * V

Where:

T = Total amount due in Euros F* = Fixed fee due for each connection f* = Cost of collection, collection service dv = Cost coefficient of preliminary and primary treatments, as well as initial and final lifts K*= Coefficient arising from the peculiarity of each individual industrial discharge, dependent on the COD/BOD ratio. Oi = Annual average COD of the production facility discharge determined after one hour of sedimentation and at pH * Of = Average COD of sewage at the secondary treatment inlet of the centralized sewage treatment plant; Si = Annual average Total Suspended Solids of the production facility's discharge determined on the effluent as is. Sf = Average Total Suspended Solids of the sewage at the inlet of the centralized treatment plant db = Secondary treatment cost coefficient df = Cost coefficient of primary sludge treatment and disposal [***] = Sewage charges determined by the presence of pollutants other than suspended materials and reducing materials. [***] = Sewage charges resulting from the defoiling treatment [***] = Sewage charges resulting from nitrification/denitrification treatment V = Volume of industrial wastewater discharged to sewer

A number of formulas exist to determine ...

4.3 Trends

An important innovation is taking place regarding the reuse of wastewater for the creation of energy; in particular, plants are being set up to obtain biomethane from wastewater.

The innovation comes from Hera Group and the Vicenza-based Pietro Fiorentini Group. It is called SynBioS (***) and is capable of converting renewable electricity and wastewater into "green" hydrogen and, then, biomethane.

The entry into operation of SynBioS, located in Bologna Corticella inside the largest purification plant among those managed by the multiutility by catchment area served, to date is expected by **** and is tied to the support of incentive measures, such as those of the PNRR.

Among the first realizations internationally, the plant is made possible thanks to an investment of about ** million euros and synergies between energy decarbonization and water purification.

The plant, which uses "power-to-gas" technology to convert renewable electricity into synthetic natural gas, not only increases the pollutant abatement potential of the water purifier, but also allows excess renewable energy to be harnessed through the reuse of biomethane in the city's distribution network, which thus takes on the role of long-term storage.

Specifically, the plant uses wastewater and renewable electricity to produce "green" hydrogen and oxygen. By harnessing the CO* ...

5.1 Regulations

In Italy, the reference legislation is Legislative Decree *** issued on May **, ****, which transposes EU Directive **/***/EEC concerning urban wastewater treatment.

In addition to regulating discharges by setting concentration limit values for the various substances contained in them, Legislative Decree ***/**, devotes itself to the quality of the water body intended to transpose them, providing for the development of monitoring activities and possibly to quantify the environmental damage exerted by man.

Also worth mentioning is Ministerial Decree ***, which came into force on September **, ****, "Implementation modalities on the state of water quality, pursuant to Article *, paragraph *, of Legislative Decree No. *** of May **, ****. It specifically provides for the transmission to APAT by the Regions and Autonomous Provinces of cognitive data, all information and reports concerning the state of water quality. A measure that draws its rationale from the need to thin out the lack of information on the subject.

On April **, ****, Legislative Decree ***/** "Consolidated Environmental Act" came into force, which, taking up what had already been introduced by the previous Legislative Decree ***/**, modifies the regulatory landscape regarding water pollution, particularly with regard to the definitions of:

WASTEWATER DISCHARGE: "Any discharge carried out exclusively through a stable system of collection that seamlessly connects the production cycle ...

6.1 Segmentation

• BrianzAcque
• Gruppo Depuracque
• Idraulica fratelli Sala
• Marazzato
• Acque del Chiampo S.p.A.
• Ecologica S.p.A.