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The expression refers to water that, whether treated or not, can be drunk, used for the preparation of food and beverages or for other domestic uses, whether it is supplied through a distribution network, by means of tanks, in bottles or containers.
Water intended for human consumption is also used by a food company for the manufacture, treatment, storage or sales of foods or products intended for consumption by the population.

The water intended for human consumption must be healthy, clean, must not contain microorganisms and parasites, or other substances in quantities or concentrations such as to represent a potential danger to human health, according to Legislative Decree 31/2001 (Implementation of Directive 98 / 83 / EC).

This decree provides that the characteristics of a water are defined by the satisfaction of 54 parameters: 2 “microbiological”, 28 “chemical” (undesirable and toxic elements, for which mandatory concentration limits are set), 21 “indicators” (elements for which recommended values are established that should not exceed) and 3 of “radioactivity”.

The calcium carbonate in running water, day after day, drop by drop, stratifies creating small white grains, the so-called limestone.
Calcareous water is the main cause of problems in domestic installations due to the formation of encrustations. Boilers, washing machines, taps are often affected, but also linen, hair and our skin.
The ion exchange softening plants exploit the specific action of the resins that selectively remove calcium and magnesium from the water by replacing them with sodium, so that, when heating, no more precipitation of calcareous origin is generated.
The exchange resins are regenerated automatically through a concentrated saline solution (brine): from the passage of the brine, consisting of sodium chloride, i.e. chloride (Cl–) and sodium (Na +) ions, the resins are recharged with the sodium exchanged and become operational again. The entire regeneration phase takes place automatically, the only precaution required is to periodically add the salt into the appropriate container.
The system must be coupled to a mechanical safety filter that prevents the entry of solid particles into the systems, thus protecting against corrosion and allowing correct operation of the plant.

Hardness, or the quantity that expresses the total content of calcium and magnesium carbonates present in the water, is expressed in French degrees (° F): 1 ° F (French degree) corresponds to 10 mg/l of calcium carbonate. Based on the hardness, the waters can be divided into:

• > 35 ° F very hard waters; > 350 mg/L
• 22 – 35 ° F hard water; 220-350 mg/L
• 15 – 22 ° F medium hard water; 150-220 mg/L
• 7 – 15 ° F fresh water; 70-150 mg/L
• 0 – 7 ° F very soft water. 0-70 mg/L

The Legislative Decree no. 31 of 2001 defines water with hardness between 15 and 50 ° f as drinkable.

There are two main techniques: de-bacterisation with UV-C rays and chlorination.

• UV-C lamps in steel combustion chambers emits rays with the right wavelength, similar to the absorption frequencies of the bacteria’s cell walls, to cause their destruction. The key components of all UV systems are the lamp and the ballast, the quartz sleeve to protect the lamp and a disinfection chamber, correctly designed according to the range of the irradiation time and the power of the lamp.
  Maintenance consists of annual lamp replacement and quartz cleaning.
  However, it should be noted that the system must be carefully monitored over time to prevent bacteria from colonising the pipes again in the event of anomalies or if you forget to replace the exhausted lamp.
  Therefore, if you decide to adopt this system, it will be good to disinfect the pipes with chlorine, periodically to ensure safety, and whenever there is a malfunction or switch off of the lamp.
• Disinfection with chlorine-based formulations is the safest method and is carried out by means of a dosing pump that delivers the right dosage, according to the flow of water to be treated.
  Chemical disinfectants have a shorter or longer coverage power and are thus able to ensure their bactericidal action even in the periods following the dosage.

Using one technology or the other depends on the risk that the water can re-contaminate itself: when consumption occurs close to the treatment or in cases where the pipes are hygienically safe, then the UV-C treatment can be used safely. In other cases, it is preferable to intervene with a disinfectant.

There are also more critical conditions in which both technologies are used together, to ensure potability up to the tap without using excessive doses of chemical disinfectants that would make the water safe but unpleasant to drink.

Reverse osmosis is a modern process based on the use of semi-permeable membranes that have the property of letting water pass, without letting the substances it contains in solution through.

In physics, by introducing pure water into two communicating vessels, separated by a semipermeable membrane, the water reaches the same level in the two vessels. By adding a salt in vessel B, the water is pushed by a natural force (osmotic pressure) to pass from the saline solution (B) to the solution with lower salinity (A); this important phenomenon is called OSMOSIS.
To reverse the phenomenon, it is sufficient that the water with a high salt content is pushed through the membrane by a pump that exerts a higher and opposite pressure to the osmotic one.
This principle, called “reverse osmosis”, makes it possible to obtain two outgoing flows at different concentrations from a starting saline water flow: the “permeate”, pure water, poor in dissolved salts and micro pollutants, suitable for use and the “concentrate, rich in salinity, which is generally destined for waste.
To reverse the phenomenon, it is sufficient that the water to be treated, with a high salt content, is pushed through the membrane by a pump that exerts a pressure higher than the osmotic one, so as to obtain two outflows: the part of water that crosses the membrane constitutes the permeate (poor in salts) that goes to use, while the remaining part (the concentrate) comes out with a high salt concentration, due to the accumulation of all the salts that have not crossed the membrane, going to waste.

The main applications of reverse osmosis (RO) systems are:

• Food and beverage production
• Pre-treatment for boilers and cooling towers
• Pre-treatment for high purity systems (EDI)
• Biopharmaceutical productions
• Water jet cutting
• Humidification and steam production
• Power generation

(* technological system that involves heating the water and / or its nebulisation or water-sanitary system, air conditioning system with humidification, cooling tower and evaporative condenser, system that distributes and supplies thermal waters, swimming pools and whirlpools.)

According to the Official Guidelines issued by the Italian Ministry of Health for the prevention and control of legionellosis, the strategies to be implemented to prevent the colonisation of the Legionella bacterium in the plant are:

• Avoid installing pipes with blind end sections and without water circulation.
• Avoid the formation of water stagnation.
• Provide periodic cleaning of the systems.
• Limit the possibility of biological niches for microorganisms through the cleaning of plants, the prevention and removal of sediments from hot water tanks, cooling basins and other hygiene measures.
• Keep the droplet separators installed downstream of the humidification sections efficient.
• Check the efficiency of the filters.
• Where possible, check the water temperature in order to avoid the critical range for the proliferation of bacteria (25-55 ° C).
• Use biocidal treatments to hinder the growth of algae, protozoa and other bacteria that can be nourishment for legionella.
• Provide an effective water treatment program, capable of preventing corrosion and the formation of biological films, which may also contain legionella.

The average daily water consumption is approximately 220 litres per person. For a family, because of economies of scale, the total consumption will be less than the sum.

The last census on water for civil use by Istat dates to 2012. In this year, the daily consumption of water supplied to users was 241 litres per inhabitant. A sobering figure is the volume of leaks from municipal water distribution networks which amount to 37% of the total volume fed into the network, that does not reach end users.

The average consumption of an average Italian family is approximately 200 cubic meters per year.
Only a small part of the total is used for cooking and drinking while most of it is used for non-food purposes: in the bathroom, for washing clothes and dishes, for watering plants …
The value can therefore vary from family to family.

Water consumption naturally depends on the users’ behaviour. In fact, for many uses, just a little forethought is enough to be able to save on consumption and spending.

Here is what the consumption of water in a home is for:

• dishwasher: 18/30 litres each wash
• washing machine: 60/90 litres each wash
• toilet flush: 8 litres
• brushing teeth with the tap open: 30 litres
• shaving with the tap running: 70 litres
• taking a shower (10 minutes): 120 litres

In cases where the supply takes place from a non-drinking source, it is first of all necessary to have the water analysed (it is recommended to analyse it over time because the quality can change, and even a lot, at a seasonal level or following heavy rains), in order to know its characteristics and identify its criticalities. Generally, it is not necessary to analyse all the parameters required by the legislation (Legislative Decree 2 February 2001, no. 31 “Implementation of Directive 98/83 / EC relating to the quality of water intended for human consumption”) but it will be sufficient to check its microbiological quality, as well as some metals and other substances that can be potentially present in groundwater.
When you are not connected to the aqueduct network, the procedure to follow to make well water drinkable is, in summary, as follows:

• Establishing with the help of the laboratory technician the parameters that need to be analysed.
• Identifying the most suitable treatment by contacting companies in the sector with proven experience.
• Obtaining from your health authority the confirmation of quality for human consumption following inspections and analytical checks.
• Performing the regular maintenance of the plants (replacement of filter, sanitisation, etc.) as defined by the plant manufacturer and establishing a self-control plan to ensure water safety.

Non-drinking water can be used for the following purposes:

• Urinals and toilets
• Watering systems
• Fountains, ornamental basins and the like.

The most frequent and well-known problems are:

• limestone encrustations,
• corrosions
• bacterial regrowth (for example the well-known phenomenon of Legionella Pneumophila).

Incrustations have the strongest influence on the thermal efficiency of the systems. In fact, upon heating, the bicarbonates and carbonates of calcium and magnesium in water generate calcium carbonates and magnesium hydrates, i.e. insoluble salts that deposit on the heat exchange surfaces and reduce the energy efficiency of the plants.
1 mm of limestone incrustation corresponds to 50 mm of steel as a heat exchange capacity. And again, 1 mm of limestone is able to reduce the heat exchange capacity of a generator for the production of domestic hot water by 18% or more.
With regards to the primary circuit, very recent studies have highlighted how the absence of proper water treatment, with the appropriate conditioning products, reduces the energy efficiency of the system by 6% in just 3 weeks. The sum of these problems can lead to energy waste of € 400 per family. All this without considering other negative side effects such as the consequent increase in CO2 emissions in the environment, the reduction of the useful life of all appliances, the reduction of the hygienic conditions of the systems (Legionella lurks much more easily in limestone deposits) and a drastic reduction in operational safety levels.

The treatments envisaged by the UNI 8065 standard are:

• the proportional dosage of polyphosphate-based products to prevent the precipitation of calcium and magnesium salts and the formation of biofilms.
• an ion exchange softening plant that exploits the specific action of the resins to selectively remove calcium and magnesium from the water and replace them with sodium, in such a way that, due to heating, no precipitation of limestone is obtained. The plant is always coupled to a mechanical safety filter that prevents the entry of solid particles into the systems, thus protecting it against corrosion and allowing its correct operation.

The DMiSE 26/06/2015 and the technical standard UNI 8065 prescribe the obligation of a softening system for new and renovated domestic hot water production systems and heating circuits, with power at the thermal plant core> 100 kW and input hardness above 15 ° f.
In plants with a power at the thermal core <100 kW there is no limit value on hardness. However, the technical standard UNI 8065 requires the maintenance of water hardness, in an air conditioning system, below 15 ° f. Controlling and maintaining the hardness of any system below 15 ° f not only is required to comply with the standard, but above all, it protects the plant. Water treatment, if done correctly, will achieve the following results:

• Long working life;
• Maximum efficiency and excellent thermal efficiency;
• Safe and risk-free operation;
• Minimal maintenance.