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The first four in via Civitavecchia and dei Guarneri and in piazza Prealpi and Quarenghi have already been activated - Water houses
 
Milan, January 2 2021 – In recent days, the first four of thirty new water houses were activated, in Piazza Prealpi, Piazza Quarenghi, via Civitavecchia and via dei Guarneri – Spadolini district – at the entrance to the former OM Park. For the next twenty-six which will be positioned by the spring, the Administration, together with MM and following the indications of the nine Municipalities, is finalizing the identification of the suitable stations. At the end of this work, Milan will have a network of 52 Water Houses.

"The Water Houses provide free fresh, still or sparkling water to all citizens – declares Marco Granelli, councilor for Mobility and Public Works – with significant savings for families but also for the environment. To make them more usable it is important identify the right location, uniformly throughout the city, in the neighborhoods, in the hottest areas and in the meeting points of citizens; a job that is done in collaboration between the MM technicians, the Municipality's Environmental Transition Area and the municipalities ".

The subsequent locations are in the Guastalla Gardens, in via Sant'Erlembardo in the Villa Finzi park, in the gardens of Franca Rame and via Venini on the corner of Palestrina, in piazza Durante, in via Civitavecchia on the corner of via Narni, in via Saccardo on the corner of via Console Flaminio, in piazzale Ovidio, in via Monte Peralba, in piazzale Cuoco at the entrance to the Alessandrini park, in via Tabacchi, in the Giussani park between via Montevideo and via Valparaiso, in piazza Santa Rita, in the gardens of piazza Napoli – Giambellino, in the Moravia park between via Berna and via dei Ciclamini, in the gardens of Bande Nere on the corner of via Orsini, in piazza Piemonte in the gardens between via Washington and via Elba, in piazza Esquilino on the corner of via Zamagna, in piazza Gramsci, in piazza Prealpi, in via Quarenghi at QT8 Gallaratese, in Piazza Fortunato on the corner of Vincenzo da Seregno, in Piazza Gasparri on the corner of Via Val di Bondo, in via Suzzani 275. Other locations to be defined concern the neighborhoods of Trenno and Quinto Romano.

The thirty new dispensers are equipped with multi-parametric probes for real-time control of water quality. Thanks to these probes, the control points positioned along the distribution network will increase, adding to the online quality systems at the water injection stations into the network and allowing greater control over the onset of any anomalies to be guaranteed (online with the principles set out in the Water Safety Plans).

Each dispenser is equipped with a support surface with a tray connected directly to the drain to avoid the leakage of water which could freeze in the winter season, and a UV lamp on the dispensing spout which guarantees protection from retro-contamination and continuous sanitization during dispensing.

Citizens can use the service with a health card and take up to six liters of water a day. The Water Houses are also accessible to people with disabilities, are equipped with a low electricity consumption LED night lighting system and four security cameras against vandalism.

With the use of Water Houses, the number of plastic bottles to be disposed of is reduced to mitigate environmental impacts, both in terms of oil used for the production of plastic and greenhouse gas emissions. Two environmental data from 2019: 203.916 kg of plastic saved and 237.052 kg of CO₂ avoid.

The survey carried out shows that, in terms of overall use, in the last year there has been an increase in use by the Milanese from 31% to 34% and the rating on the perceived quality of the water stands at 8. A figure on use in 2019: 7.646.850 liters of water supplied, of which 2.996.316 were carbonated.