The management of water resources is an environmental issue to which we have dedicated expertise and attention, following an undertaking to become entirely self-sufficient in the provision of water, through the construction of a series of independently managed wells which fulfil the hygiene/sanitary, fire control and “industrial” needs of both airports.
The principal water sources utilized are the aquifers, to which the 12 wells located at Malpensa and the 8 wells located at Linate are linked. For Malpensa, the aquifer has a depth of approximately 51 meters (water table measures carried out on the G and L wells), while for Linate the aquafer has a depth of approximately 5 meters.
The water drawn from wells at the airport sites of Malpensa and Linate are distributed for consumption through internal aqueducts.
The chemical/physical and quantitative control, in addition to the consumption rationalization activities, ensure the highest level of attention to this important common resource.
Increased water requirements registered at Linate pertain to higher low-value water consumption (superficial aquifer) used for the "cooling and conditioning" requirements of the airport infrastructure.
Water consumption (m3)
Note: 2016 data does not include SEA Prime.
Source: SEA
Worth highlighting: unfavourable thermal conditions, maintenance interventions to empty distribution pipelines and hydraulic tests effected in the year and, particularly interesting, a higher superficial aquifer water extraction temperature (water from dedicated wells) which necessitated additional water conditioning to overcome the lower thermal delta.
The quality of the water distributed through the airport aqueducts was subject, in addition to inspections by the Sanitary Board, an internal programme of frequent checks which includes the evaluation of the numerous chemical/physical and microbiological parameters. The parameters analysed are significantly lower than the maximum levels permitted by law and highlight the good quality of the water distributed at both airports, both from a chemical and micro-biological viewpoint.