This means technological innovation of the entire infrastructure, identification, monitoring and reduction of water leakage, upgrading and modernisation of the network, to pursue 9 macro-objectives for 133 municipalities. ATO Città metropolitana di Milano and CAP Group, the green public utility that manages the water service in the Milan Metropolitan City, will receive over 42 million euro funding under the NRRP for improving the water for all citizens in the served area. CAP’s project ranked third out of more than 150 projects, and together with ATO was assigned the highest funding among north-centre regions.
Over the next few years dozens of interventions will be carried out thanks to the finance obtained, starting with leakage reduction. Indeed, it is well known that water leakage is one of the most widespread problems nationwide, so much so that on average one third of water (36.4%) does not reach its destination. The level of water dispersion in Lombardy stands at 23.4% (according to data from the Ambrosetti White Paper, in northern Italy it is 34.9 % and in the south is 48.6%), while in the Milan Metropolitan City it stands at around 20%. For years CAP has been implementing a new strategy to reduce leaks, adopting integrated research projects to detect them throughout the network. Since 2020, for example, 3,614 km of the network, equivalent to about 50% of the total, have been inspected, which enabled the detection and repair of 5,016 leaks, 150 more than in 2019.
The NRRP funding will make it possible to continue along this path by adopting increasingly innovative technologies, enhancing monitoring tools and developing modelling tools for maintenance and predictive planning for 133 municipalities. It will also be possible to replace 18 km of network in addition to the 46 km planned for the 2020-2023 period, which will have an important environmental impact in terms of energy savings and CO2 reduction (thus also reducing costs for citizens).
The funding that the CAP Group and ATO Città metropolitana di Milano will receive amounts to 42,526,377 euros and will contribute to the company’s 79,446,801 euro total investment. This is the third funding obtained by CAP from the NRRP, after the 50 million euros for the Milano Città Spugna project, which will allow the realisation of 90 sustainable urban drainage projects in 32 municipalities, with the upgrading a total area of 530,000 square metres, and the around 2 million euros obtained for district heating. Overall, CAP will manage almost 100 million euros thanks to the NRRP funds.
The proposed measures are part of the strategy adopted by CAP with its sustainability plan, which is based on three fundamental principles: Resilience, in assets, governance and water resource management; Innovation, with constant investment in research and development, technology and human capital; and Sensitivity to people's needs, to increase the well-being and confidence of the communities served. The strategy aims to achieve the 17 SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) sanctioned by the United Nations as part of the Agenda 2030, according to the Lombardy Region's Protocol for Sustainable Development, which CAP signed in 2021.