This year marked the third edition of the Festival, which is organised by UTILITALIA, an umbrella association for Italian public utility companies in charge of water supply, electricity and gas distribution.
Conferences, seminars, workshops and training initiatives for professionals, schools and universities provided an opportunity for debate on water issues. Sustainability, management, global balance of resources and the condition of the integrated water system in Italy were some of the issues addressed by the many speakers during initiatives and events open to the public.
'Terre di confine – Freddas' in Senegal, an initiative undertaken by GREEN CROSS and supported by the Italian Development Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was also presented during the Festival. Thanks to a pool of Italian enterprises, including the Caprari Group, solar energy plants have been built for water supply, agriculture and to support sustainability initiatives.
Water and energy
The Festival saw Eng. Antipodi, R&D Manager of Caprari SpA, and Prof. Carravetta, Professor at the Federico II University of Naples, offer a paper on the subject 'Energy and Water.' Hydropower, energy efficiency and new technologies for installations and individual components were the subjects discussed in this session.
Alberto Caprari, CEO of the Caprari Group and President of ANIMA, Confindustria's Mechanical Engineering Federation, was asked to explain how industry optimises the water/energy combination according to three guidelines – sustainability, efficiency and high technological value.
Alberto Caprari underscored the need for a road map able to promote the partnership between industrial technologies and utilities to support investments in networks. He went on to discuss investments in new technologies and materials related to water use and management. He underlined the importance of reducing energy consumption, but also in keeping pace with legislation governing materials and products suitable for contact with drinking water, which is currently being revised in Italy and Europe.
Alberto Caprari also promoted the idea of bringing service supply organisations, university and manufacturing research bodies together to discuss and set-up pilot projects, as well as the creation of specific courses tailored to create new skills. He then launched an appeal to simplify the procedures in tenders, thereby guaranteeing solutions that favour the most advantageous offer, to ensure the highest possible level of reliability in the water service, over time.
