Residents in Sicily  and  the face of water scarcity

 Residents in Sicily, Italy, have been described as "resilient" in the face of water scarcity — but their patience with this year's shortages is running out.

Heavy rationing is in place across 93 communities, which means faucets run dry according to a timetable.

Citizens of Agrigento, one of the most affected areas where the water only runs every 15 days, took to the streets on 3 August shouting "We want water". The protest attracted around 1,500 people - a higher number of attendees than the first protest on 3 June.

"We constantly worry about having enough water for essential daily activities, such as cooking, cleaning, and personal hygiene," said Sicilian Clara Ferrante. “This problem has been around for 20-plus years — even my grandmother used to have these when she was young.

"We are forced to adopt strict conservation and rationing measures, which can be stressful to manage and maintain, especially in the presence of elders and babies," added the 26-year-old.

Sicilians have adopted tricks like collecting water from air conditioning systems to use to flush the toilet, or sharing water among neighbours.

Another solution is setting up individual or communal water tanks.

“Sicily has historically been very resilient to problems of water scarcity, and one of the solutions adopted was to create water storage at home precisely because people did not trust the distribution systems and the local government," said Professor Leonardo Valerio Noto of the University of Palermo.

In some cases, individuals were not warned ahead of time about the water cuts and ran out of water altogether.

"Normally the way we find out about water shortages is when we have used our own reserve," said the Sicilian resident. "And what has happened in the past sometimes is like we were taking showers and then water is out — and we're still full of soap."

To refill a water tank, people must call a private water distributor and pay around €250. While they are entitled to claim a refund afterwards from the state, some people cannot afford the upfront cost.

What are the solutions?
Between 2010 and 2014, Sicily's three desalination plants — Gela, Porto Empedocle and Trapani — were all closed.

"They were obsolete, impactful, and very expensive," Professor Noto explained, saying a modernised one along the lines of Europe’s largest desalination plant in Barcelona might be the solution.

"A large plant would cost about €50 million — a large sum, but one that would be amortised over time.

"Italy and Sicily have lots to learn from Spain and its proactive approach to face drought and mitigate its impacts."

'Due to climate change': Spanish government announces €2 billion fund to tackle severe drought
Can desalination help combat Europe’s water crisis? Drought-struck Barcelona is banking on it
According to the Italian National Institute of Statistics, 42.4% of the water fed into the water supply systems in Italy is lost. The figure in Sicily is 52%.

"Total network losses can be attributed to causes such as physiological factors, present in all water infrastructure as there is no zero-leakage system, ruptures in pipelines and old age of the systems, prevalent especially in some areas of the territory," said the professor. "And abusive connections and administrative factors, due to meter measurement errors and unauthorised usage."

A major part of the EU Next Generation National Recovery and Resilience Plan, Italy's implementation of the European Union’s post-COVID recovery programme, is allocated to revamping the country's water infrastructure.

Around 60% of the funds are allocated to the southern regions, with Sicily being the second-largest beneficiary.

But eight projects have been rejected during the initial funding application period purely because the number of applications exceeded the available resources. Some projects were also rejected because they failed to meet various requirements, a sign that local authorities have struggled to develop projects in line with the plan.

"Addressing this problem requires an approach involving both investment in the maintenance and modernisation of existing infrastructure and the adoption of sustainable water management practices," said Valerio Noto. "Technology can play a crucial role in monitoring water networks and early detection of water leaks."