Water

Among the University's various locations, the University Campus, which covers an area of about 77 ha, is by far the most water-demanding (nearly 90 percent of total consumption). Water within the Campus is used for multiple purposes including irrigation, the needs of toilets in all buildings-including sports facilities-food preparation in indoor canteens, cleaning operations, laboratory activities of the various Departments, fire-fighting services, operation of evaporative towers for cooling in the summer period, etc.

With reference to drinking water only, the local integrated water service provider provides delivery, within the Campus, to a single point equipped with a meter. From there, through two main pipelines, water is distributed to all users.

Starting in January 2017, with the aims of rationalizing and reducing water consumption on campus, a monitoring campaign was undertaken, initially on a daily scale and from September 2017 on an hourly scale, reading the meter at the delivery point.

Continuous instrumental monitoring is essential to immediately identify those periods when water consumption is abnormally higher than expected values, indicative of the presence of leaks on the circuit or improper use of the resource, ensuring rapid intervention. This allowed a substantial reduction in consumption between 2017 and 2018 of about 40 percent, as shown in the graph below.

The monitoring of consumption has also enabled the acquisition of the cognitive elements necessary to renegotiate a more convenient tariff with the water service manager, which has ensured significant savings for the University's coffers.

In addition to what is already in place, short-term actions include the modernization of some parts of the water distribution network and the installation of new meters to actively record, analyze and manage water use. The goal is to achieve monitoring of water consumption at the scale of the individual building and to develop appropriate strategies for its further reduction.

In the medium term, efforts will not be limited to infrastructural improvements alone, but great emphasis will need to be placed on raising awareness among the entire university community about the need for more sustainable use of the water resource.

In the long term, it is planned to:

• conduct comprehensive monitoring of water consumption on campus and at all other University sites, not limited to drinking water alone;

• increase, where possible, the use of non-potable water, such as for toilet flushing;

• adopt strategies to store and reuse stormwater, e.g., for irrigation or all other uses that do not require high quality water.