VISIT TO AGAC AND WATER DEPURATION PLANT

AGAC-ENIA is the multi-utility company for the municipalities of Reggio Emilia and the adjoining provinces. It has provided energy and environmental services to over 450,000 citizens since 1974.
It deals with the whole water cycle (catching, depuration and distribution), distributes methane gas, manages remote heating network together with garbage collection and recycling.

We visited the well field of Quercioli and listened to the technicians' explanations about catching, treating and depurating water.
In this area there are 38 hectares of ground with 13 wells. The water is taken from wells at depth ranging from 40 to 110 m . underground: the surface water is usually more polluted than the deep one.
If the collected water contains iron and manganese, it requires specific treatment: it is conveyed to tanks where these substances are taken away by special micro organisms. They act as a biological filter because they obtain energy by oxidation of these metals. This technique is quite up-to-date because it doesn't employ any chemicals in the treatment.
Later electronic pumps introduce chlorine to kill harmful bacteria in all types of collected water.
There's also a special room where a machine packs plastic bags containing 1 litre of drinkable water, very useful in case of emergency.

After the visit we had lunch with some typical local food, gnocco fritto e salume , and spent some free time together!

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