Conference on Water Cycle

Bari - Lecture hall "Attilio Alto" Politecnico di Bari
The World Water Day is a celebration organized by the United Nations since 1992, as a result of the Rio conference. It is celebrated every year on March 22.
In order to celebrate this event the Apulian Section of the Italian Hydrotecnique Association, the ARPA-Puglia (Environmental Agency of the Region Apulia) and the Water Engineering and Chemistry Department of the Politecnico di Bari (Technical University of Bari) organized a conference on the sustainable development of the water cycle in Apulia.

It is well known that the water management is very complicated, being strongly influenced by:

1) the typical imbalance between demand and supply of water (very strong in the period of water crisis), resulting in conflicts at local, regional and national levels, partly due to the multiple decision-makers;
2) inability to face the water needs with only conventional water resources, with related need to encourage the reuse and preservation of strategic water resources;
3) the gradual deterioration of the water quality due to the industrial development and intensive use of chemical products in agriculture which could undermine the groundwater.

Due to the socio-economic development of the last decades, the critical problem of the water use and supplying and water system management have become very complicated. However, the economic and social development of a nation has to pursue the resolution of these problems, trying to make best use of economic and scientific resources.

The conference dealt with these topics and was attended by about 500 conveners.