The wastewater recycling system in the textile district of Prato

The system has been realized thanks to the shared commitment of many companies in the area, convinced that the reduction of the environmental impact has a greater weight if to share the path are more subjects, instead of a single company.

This wastewater recycling plant is one of the first in Europe. Even today, it is the largest industrial aqueduct for the distribution of recycled water for industrial purposes.

The plant of the Textile District of Prato involves over 350 companies that use recycled water instead of drinking water from water table.

The network of pipes is 60 km long and, every year collects about 3.5 million cubic meters of water. The wastewater recycling plant collects and treats the water that comes from the processing of farms in Prato.

The centralized wastewater treatment system and recycling plant are operated by GIDA, a non-profit company with mixed public and private capital. The majority shareholder of the company is the Municipality of Prato, the other members are Confindustria Toscana Nord and Gruppo CONSIAG.

The use of the wastewater treatment plant, over time, has allowed achieving several goals.

Among these:

• reduce the consumption of water for industrial activity, so as to ensure the need for drinking water for other uses
• do not pollute water to meet industrial needs
• reduce the impact of wastewater (collected, purified, and recirculated in industrial activity) on the surrounding environment

In fact, purified and recycled water can be reused for some textile production processes, but also in the fire prevention system. In this way, all companies, even the smallest ones, which otherwise would not have the possibility to invest in similar projects, can contribute to saving water resources.