In our last post of the ‘work in progress’ section (June 2020) we presented the agreement via which Talete and the public administration units involved in the management of drinking water and sewage disposal in the catchment area of Lake Bolsena have found a way to solve the problems of the ring canal.
Recently, in a meeting with the associations of the lake, a representative of Talete confirmed that the agreement, signed in May 2020, is now being applied and financed according to the provisions of the agreement. The first phase of the agreement (which consists of two parts, the first called ‘reconnaissance activity’ and the second called ‘preliminary maintenance activity’) is nearing completion.
During the reconnaissance activity an assessment was carried out of the state of the plant inherited from COBALB in order to determine and evaluate any measures necessary for the functioning of the system.
The preliminary maintenance activities, in which Talete undertook to keep the plant operational within the limits of available resources, extended beyond the period initially envisaged, and obtained positive results. Thanks to the continued surveillance and rapid interventions by Talete overflows during the summer were low and short-term, the main problem being the lack of spare pumps in order to guarantee functionality.
The second phase, called ‘management activity’ is expected to begin in January 2021, and provides for the management of the system by Talete for a period of one year (with the possibility of extending for another year). During this period the plant should be progressively brought into compliance and a remote monitoring system will be activated. In order to ensure maximum transparency, Talete appears willing to share information received from the monitoring system, making it available to local authorities, within the limits of maintaining the security of the system from an IT point of view.
For this second phase, the Lazio region has allocated a total of 1.2 million euro.
As part of the second phase, a ‘design activity’ is also envisaged, which will be implemented at the beginning of the management activities. The design activity involves the development of a project for the complete restoration of the former COBALB collection system, including the Valentano treatment plant, but excluding that at Marta and the municipal networks. For the implementation of this project, Talete launched a tender (40,000 euro) which was won by a technical office in Rome.
During the two aforementioned phases, the municipalities remain managers of the plant, having received it from the bankruptcy trustee following the failure of COBALB.
The project for the restoration and compliance of the circumlacual sewage system would include the collection of wastewater along the shore of Gradoli and according to initial estimates should involve works for a cost in the region of 3-4 million euros.
As mentioned, the project does not include the restoration of municipal sewage networks or the restoration and upgrading of the treatment plant in Marta. This plant is completely stopped and has been releasing all the sewage collected in the lake basin into the Marta River for more than three years. Talete has agreed to temporarily manage the plant, but adequate funding is needed for this.
