There is a paradox that flows silent under our feet, between worn pipes and taps that lose: Italy is the country that takes the most fresh water throughout the European Unionbut at the same time it is one of the least efficient in its distribution. And, as if that were not enough, millions of citizens do not trust to drink it, that water, not even when he arrives at home.
The eighth edition of the Istat report on sustainable development objectives (SDGS), published on 10 July 2025 water.
The Goal 6dedicated to “clean water and toilet-sanitary services”, is among the objectives that show the weakest progress in Italy. A strategic objective, which aims to guarantee the availability and sustainable management of water resources for everyone, but which in our country still seems far from full implementation. The numbers confirm this. And they are numbers that weigh.
A record that not to boast of: we are the first for water withdrawn
In 2022, Italy has taken 9.13 billion cubic meters of fresh water from rivers, lakes and underground slopes for drinking use. A volume that places us in the first place among the 27 Member States of the European Union. And if you look at the per capita levy, the situation does not improve: every Italian citizen has “asked” nature 155 cubic meters of water a year just to drink, wash, cook and clean. A fact that makes us climb to the European podium also in this ranking, in third place overall.
In other words, We are among the countries that most intensely draw on their water reserves. But this constant pressure on natural ecosystems does not translate into an efficient service or in a widespread and safe distribution. Indeed, the system loses blows. And loses liters.
Colabrodo networks: over 42% of the water disperses
57.6% is the fact that measures the efficiency of Italian municipal water networks in 2022. This means that Over 42% of the water taken never reaches citizens: it is lost on the street, in flaws, losses, breaks, dispersions. A figure that shouts to waste, but also to the urgency of investments in infrastructure that in many cases are decades on their shoulders.
In 2023, the problem made itself felt strongly: in 14 municipalities of the provincial provincial and metropolitan cities, it had to resort to rationing measures in the provision of water for domestic use. A picture of structural water crisis, no longer episodic. Still, the water in Italy is not lacking: it is the network that does not hold up.
Growing distrust: one in three Italians does not drink from the tap
But perhaps the most disturbing data is what concerns perception and trust. According to the Istat report, in about 2024 One in three family (33%) does not trust the water that comes out of the tap of the house. A huge figure, which reflects a widespread sensation of insecurity, often linked to the perceived quality of water: smell, color, taste.
In parallel, almost one in ten family (stable data compared to the previous year) reports irregularities in distribution. Interruptions, pressure drops, absence of water. Phenomena that, in 2025, in one of the first European economies, should no longer be tolerable.
This lack of trust has tangible consequences: millions of families rely on bottled water (almost always in plastic), with an impact not only economic for families, but also environmental for the production, transport and disposal of plastic. In an already fragile context, it is a habit that costs dear.
Sewares: 6.6 million people excluded
To further worsen the picture there is another data, often forgotten: in 2022, about 6.6 million residents in Italy were not yet connected to the sewage network. A figure that clashes with the declared coverage of the service, equal to 88.8% of the territory.
This deficiency represents a serious hygienic-sanitary problem, but also an environmental risk, since it involves the not controlled and not treated release of waste water. An infrastructure gap that should already be past history, and instead it is still dramatically current.
There has been an improvement, but that’s not enough
Despite everything, Italy has made some steps forward in the integrated management of water resources. Between 2017 and 2023, our country went from a “medium-high” level to a “high” level. But these are too slow progress, and still insufficient to fill the serious structural deficiencies that clearly emerge from the relationship.
Goal 6 remains among the more immobile ones in the panorama of environmental objectives: it is difficult to progress, to transform, really affect. Still, water is everywhere – flows into our bodies, in our daily gestures, in the life that surrounds us. Without responsible and forward -looking management of this resource, there will be no authentic progress. Nor well -being. Nor future.
The challenge is under our eyes. And it concerns each of us.
