Gli approvvigionamenti idrici nell’area settentrionale dell’Ambito Territoriale Ottimale n. 3 Torinese. Studio d’insieme ed analisi delle soluzioni

This study has been finalized to offer a complete plan of the water supply in the north-western zone of the Ambito Territoriale Ottimale n.3 – “Torinese” (ATO/3).
The most critical situation concerns the Commune of Ivrea, supplied by Darola well-field, that exploits an unconfined aquifer characterized by a high intrinsic vulnerability, and by Montefibre well, that is located in urban area. Other problems concern Communes of Locana, Alice Superiore, Tavagnasco and Quassolo, where As concentration is over the limit fixed by D.Lgs 31/2001. Besides, some Communes of Canavese are affected by seasonal water scarsity.

In order to solve these problems, a series of alternative supply proposals has been introduced:

1. The exploitation of the Serra d’Ivrea’s springs has been defined economically unfeasible because these springs supply with a limited flow, their exploitation has a very elevated cost, and the amount of available water is lower than necessary.

2. The construction of a “ravvenamento” plant for the unconfined aquifer doesn't result a satisfactory solution, since there is a drainage from the aquifer to Dora Baltea River.

3. The exploitation of Montellina spring located in Commune of Quincinetto, by the construction of an aqueduct in Dora Baltea Valley, allows to supply Commune of Ivrea, replacing Montefibre well. This hypothesis could be advantageous in the short time and its planning cost is limited.

4. An alternative exploitation of Montellina spring allows to supply Quincinetto, and, at the same time, Communes of Tavagnasco and Quassolo, characterized by As natural pollution, but not reachable by Orco Valley’s aqueduct. This hypothesis has very low construction cost and it’s consistent with the project of a bottled mineral water plant.

5. The exploitation of St. Meinerio spring, by the construction of an aqueduct in Orco Valley, is the complete and decisive solution, since it makes available a great quantity of water flow. The hypothesis developed in this study involves to exploit exclusively St. Meinerio spring, considering a flow around 100 l/s. However, laying a principal pipe of 56 km, the project becomes financially sustainable and economically advantageous only with a greater flow. Therefore, the most significant project could be to integrate the St. Meinerio waters with the flow coming out from the Pont Canavese hydroelectric power plant, situated at the lowest altitude in AEM’s power plant system.

Besides, according to a sustainable management of water resources, it could be useful to intend for future development the replaced springs and wells only for process and agricultural purposes (after specific analyses).

Finally, it has been possible to elaborate a schematic evaluation table, a simple tool that allows to synthesize all significant data (economical, environmental and quality aspects) of a water resource. Therefore, it’s an immediate application criterion that could be used by the ATO/3, or by the Public Administration, as decisional support in order to evaluate between keeping or replacing a critical water point.