The problem: water pollution

The Venice lagoon is one of the most important wet areas in the world due to its water ecosystems and primary productivity.

It is a unique habitat, due to its hydro-geological complexity, which needs forefront design abilities. Ingeniousness is deeply entrenched in the long history of the Serenissima Republic of Venice: the history of a community living with water and on water. Natural laws only would have not been enough to preserve and protect Venice and its lagoon.

The waters of a drainage basin exceeding 2000 km2 from the hinterland - in a densely populated area where more than 1 million people live - flow into the lagoon. The waste waters coming from the purification plants of Porto Marghera, one of the major Italian industrial areas, add to them.

Yet water and land – resources which seemed to be plentiful - were exploited too much in the years of great economic development. The pollution caused by the Marghera plants and the expansion of inhabited areas had jeopardized the environment. Civil and industrial uses have increased over time and liquid waste have long polluted the lagoon. The "good" water, the sensitive water and land environment - as well as the economic development model of the Venice mainland - were in danger. Today, however, Venetians have decided not to waste this resource any longer; indeed they have committed themselves to reusing it.