Translated automatically by AI from the Italian original.
ACI CATENA (CATANIA) / PUBLIC SERVICES – The water emergency that since last Friday left more than 6,000 residents of Santa Lucia and the northern districts of the Municipality of Aci Catena without supply is set to be fully resolved by tomorrow morning. Water has already started flowing again through the town network this afternoon, following a long, decisive meeting at Palazzo di Città.
Attending the institutional meeting were the Municipality of Aci Catena’s special commissioner Innocenza Battaglia, the local authority’s secretary general Nerina Scandura, the head of technical and maintenance Nello Fichera, the Municipal Police commander Nello Forzisi and the management of the company Azienda Acque Pezzagni.
The sticking points: rates and a €90,000 debt
The supplier’s sudden decision to suspend its contract and stop the supply stemmed from a request to adjust rates (governed by a contract dating from December 2021 and already revised in 2022) together with payment of a court order for an outstanding debt of about €90,000.
While the Municipality of Aci Catena had regularly paid current invoices, the unresolved debt led to the breakdown. In today’s meeting the parties reached a temporary agreement: the local authority formally undertook to pay the €90,000 by Friday, allowing the immediate reopening of the well’s sluice gates on the territory of the neighbouring Municipality of Aci Sant’Antonio.
Three days of disruption: schools and cemetery closed
The service interruption caused serious hardship for Aci Catena residents. Despite conciliation attempts begun as early as 30 October, the company went ahead with closing the plants, rendering the Municipality’s first efforts useless; it had issued an urgent contingency order to demand the wells be reopened.
To mitigate the hygiene and sanitation shortfall, the Municipality of Aci Catena, in close cooperation with the Prefecture of Catania, deployed emergency water tankers to the affected districts. The lack of water nevertheless forced the temporary closure of the municipal cemetery and the school buildings in the central hub and the Santa Lucia district; these will reopen as normal tomorrow.
At the height of the crisis there were heated protests on social media and spontaneous sit-ins by citizens outside the municipal offices to urge the restoration of this essential service.
