Tap water in Venice: Origin and Quality

Tap water in Venice: is it drinkable? This is one of the most frequent asked questions. Drinking water supply was one of the biggest challenges in Venice in the past. It is one of the issues that I always like to discuss during some my “sustainable tours”

As for the present day: since 1883 Venice has been provided with an aqueduct. Modern drinking water pipelines run from the coastline into the city. But, from where?

In the small countryside village of Ca’ Solaro (Venice) there is a treatment plant with a capacity of 1,000 liter/second.
The raw water comes from the river Sile, through an artificial canal. Its springs are located in the village of Casacorba, not far from the city of Treviso.

Water quality at the entrance and at the output of the system is checked with continuous monitoring instruments. Manual samplings and analyses are periodically performed in order to comply with the quality standards set by the Italian laws, according with a program approved by Health Authority (source: http://www.sdcommunity.org/en/veritas-spa)

That is why tap water in Venice is absolutely safe!

Yet, only a fraction of the drinking water of Venice comes from the springs of the river Sile. The rest is provided by groundwater wells (300 meter deep), which are also located in the Province of Treviso, a few kilometers away from Venice. This water is also “piped in” and it does not imply the use of any polluting means of transport.

Drinking water was only one of the many challenges that Venice had to face!
There is far more to know about Venice and its other environmental issues.

In Venice there are over 100 drinking fountains with good, safe, free water.
Please re-use your bottle (or buy a re-usable one), take it with you and fill it up.
Remember: tap water is a great, fundamental resource: use it well!

More info here:
https://www.venicetapwater.com

Find the fountain nearest to you (pasted from “Fuorirotta Map”, the other map of Venice)