Rain water
H2 Ohh
After this year’s record rainfall in the UK it might be hard to imagine that in the southern Mediterranean it has been a battle dealing with the siccita’ or drought that depleted water resources for city dwellers and rural folk alike.
Every summer my parents loose water supply to the house from around 9am after showers and washing have been done. Inconvenient, but nothing compared to farmers who loose their crop and income. Last year 8.7 Billion Euros were lost to drought. Since the 1990s the number of farmers has fallen by 15% due to climate change, most in Puglia. This year olive production in Umbria, Tuscany, Calabria and Puglia is predicted to be a record low, solely because it hasn’t rained.
We take our produce seriously and drought is a massive problem. Italians are too nonchalant about water management and we are regularly told off by the European Union for wasting water.
Of the 378 litres of water per day per head, 178 are lost through leakage in the aging pipes. 35% of the remaining water goes down the loo, 20% on washing machine and dishwasher, and 6% for food. According to the EU we could save 45% of our water but we are being very slow to take action.
My plumber told me that it is common throw away the water reduction devices that go into faucets. He laughed out loud when we told him we wanted to collect rainwater from the roof. He did eventually plumb in the tanks and has become passionate about saving water himself.
If we want to keep maintain our lifestyle and our landscapes we can’t wait for the government, we all have our bit to do. So when you are visiting Italy remember that using water responsibly helps preserve the Italy we all know and love.