There are over two thousand “Water Houses” in Italy and they are often considered an ecological alternative to the consumption of bottled water. But water houses have a significant environmental impact and are not always a good solution. Italia che cambia published a long article about these Water Houses. Here our translation.
‘Water houses’ began to appear about fifteen years ago and have since mushroomed. The most recent report, from 2017, counted more than two thousand of them spread throughout the country. Water houses have become a common feature in Italian cities. They are automatic water dispensers connected to the public water supply. They are often found in squares, car parks or other public places.
They are kiosk-like structures where people can fill their bottles with still or sparkling water, chilled or at room temperature. They are often presented as an ecological solution to the problem of bottled water, of which we in Italy are great consumers, but the environmental impact of water houses is not trivial and the habits they create can be counterproductive, especially if we compare them with the use of tap water, which has practically identical qualities.
Between 2010 and 2017, according to Utilitalia, the federation representing Italian companies operating in public water, environmental and energy services, the number of water houses grew rapidly, from around 200 to more than 2,000 across Italy, with a greater concentration in the north. This growth was supported by both public administrations and private companies, which worked together to manage these facilities. Since 2017, Utilitalia has stopped updating its annual reports, and no more recent data are available at national level. However, several local reports show that the number has continued to grow.
At the same time, the functions of the water houses have expanded. Initially, they offered only natural water, but soon they were equipped with systems to provide sparkling water as well. Integrated treatments, such as the use of bactericidal UV lamps and activated carbon filters, have further improved the quality of the water distributed. In recent years, some houses have been equipped with solar panels to provide renewable energy, improving their sustainability.
AGAINST BOTTLED WATER
Despite the generally good quality of public water, the average Italian consumes 200 litres of bottled water a year, almost double the European average of 106 litres. This makes Italy the leading consumer in Europe and one of the top consumers in the world, together with Mexico and Thailand.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF WATER HOUSES
The first Water Houses were installed in Italy around 2010, mainly in the north of the country, in response to the need to reduce the consumption of plastic bottles and promote the value of public water. These dispensers were designed to provide drinking water taken directly from the network, often with additional treatments to improve its taste, such as the removal of chlorine.
A fact that can also be explained by the presence in our country of more than 250 brands of bottled water, which invest millions of euros in advertising every year. The result is that every year – every year! – at least 10 billion plastic bottles are used and thrown away in Italy for water consumption alone. If we lined up all these bottles, they would go around the world 75 times.
In this context, water houses have always been seen by administrations and citizens as a way to consume less bottled water. However, if we compare the proliferation of water houses with the sale of bottled water, we see that both trends have increased over the same period: according to Ismea – the Institute of Services for the Agricultural Food Market – between 2009 and 2019, while water houses were proliferating, the consumption of bottled water increased from around 5 billion litres per year to 10 billion litres per year.
Something doesn’t add up. If this data is correct, and assuming that total water consumption has remained roughly the same over time, it would seem that water houses have replaced tap water consumption, not bottled water. Is this possible? Yes, in fact it is likely, given what we know about the human psyche.
A DANGEROUS PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECT
The growing popularity of water houses, which are promoted as places where water quality is superior, carries with it a dangerous implicit belief that tap water is of poor quality. In reality, water from water houses and tap water are almost identical. According to a 2016 Altroconsumo study, water from water houses undergoes only light treatment – such as chlorine reduction and cooling – and is similar to tap water. Another 2021 analysis of the aqueducts of 35 cities rated the water quality as good or excellent in 31 cases, confirming that the differences between mineral water, domestic water and water from water houses are minimal.
This may be due to a psychological effect linked to the perception of quality by the context or an external intervention. Two psychological concepts may explain this phenomenon. The framing effect, or the fact that the way an option is presented influences how it is perceived. Water houses are often promoted as an ‘improvement’ on tap water, with an emphasis on treatments such as chlorine removal or carbonation.
This framing can make tap water seem less desirable, in the same way that a ‘premium’ product makes standard products seem of lower quality. Confirmation bias may also have played a role: people who already have doubts about the quality of tap water may interpret the presence of water houses as confirmation of their beliefs. The idea that the water in the water houses has undergone additional treatment reinforces the perception that tap water is “not good enough. “
FEW ADVANTAGES AND MANY DISADVANTAGES
The quality is often almost identical, but the environmental impact is very different. While tap water has a negligible environmental impact, the same cannot be said for water supplied by water houses. Water houses use energy for treatment processes – for example, filtration, bactericidal UV lamps – and for cooling the water. Some operators estimate that this consumption is between 5 and 10 kWh per day, equivalent to an air conditioner running for about 10 hours. This therefore contributes to CO 2 emissions, especially if the energy comes from non-renewable sources.
In addition, people almost always go to fill the bottles in their cars. As Alberto Sebastiani, director of Adriatica Acque, a company that manages over 400 distributors throughout the country, confirms, the water houses are built in well-lit, easily identifiable locations that are easily accessible by car. This means more CO2 in the atmosphere and more particulate matter in the air we breathe.
“It seems that water houses have replaced the consumption of tap water, rather than bottled water.”
In some cases, the consumption of water from the tap could also pose greater risks than that which comes from the tap. According to Elena Dogliotti, nutritional biologist and scientific advisor to the Veronesi Foundation, “the use of non-sterile containers […] in the case of supplies that are not consumed in a short time could increase the risk of contamination”.
And, the biologist continues, “in this regard, it is usually the municipalities themselves that provide useful information to consumers who want to use the water houses, such as the use of new containers, preferably in glass or otherwise in food-grade plastic”. Obviously, if you collect the water in new containers every time, the environmental gain compared to bottled water is practically zero.
WHEN AND HOW TO USE WATER HOUSES
Now that the field of false solutions has been cleared, it is legitimate to ask: are there also cases in which it makes sense to install water houses? The answer is yes. The installation of water houses could be useful in areas where the buildings are very old and the last stretch of pipes, those of the condominiums, could release metals and other substances in the stretch that is not controlled by official analyses.
Another case is that of communities where the water that reaches the taps of homes is undrinkable because it is contaminated with some pollutant such as arsenic, PFAS, some bacteria. In both cases, however, the installation of water houses should be seen as a temporary solution, useful to cover up a problem, not to solve it. What we often see is that the houses become an “excuse” for not investing in the proper modernisation of the water network.
In general, drinking tap water is still the best solution from an environmental point of view and in most cases does not entail any loss of quality. For those who cannot drink the water from their apartment or community, or for those who love sparkling water and have a water house nearby, it is advisable not to take the car just to go and fill the bottles, but to include the stop at the water house in the already planned routes in order to reduce the impact of transport.
