Fragile, ineffective and inexperienced governance, fragmentation and shortage of industrial operators. These are the main points underlying the delays of the water service in the South, according to the in-depth analysis of the Ref Research Laboratory dedicated to the gap between North and South Italy in the water service; relationship from which emerges the "division into two" of our country and that the South, "except in some cases, is forced to live with serious inefficiencies and constant emergencies".
Unlike the rest of Italy - it is explained - "those who live in the southern regions show a strong dissatisfaction" for the quality of the water service: both for the organoleptic characteristics of the water and for the distribution (for example low pressure and interruptions); among the "most disadvantaged regions, Calabria and Sicily", where in some cases more than one citizen out of two does not trust to drink tap water.
The symbol of the gap are losses in the network, which reach an average of 51.3% in the macro-geographical area of the South and the Islands; but the sewerage and purification is also exemplary, so much so that out of a total of 1,122 urban agglomerations of sewer networks or where the waters are not adequately purified, 761 (67.8%) are located in the South. The regions where the greatest problems are found are Sicily (263 agglomerations) and Calabria (190 agglomerations).
In these territories "the sewage networks and purification plants, where present, are mainly managed directly by the local authorities. The direct management of the local authorities can therefore be indicated as the main cause of the delay and environmental damage".