The “Fontana leggera” in Capo D’Orlando, near Messina. December 31, 2011 is the last day for Italian municipalities to renounce at least 40% of their participation as stakeholders in water companies. On December 4, 2010 the so called “People of the Water” movement protested in Rome and simultaneously in other Italian cities, presenting a 1.4 milion signatures petition against the Ronchi Law, claiming it amounts to privatization of water.
On July 6, 2010, the borough of Capo D’Orlando, after a collaboration with the Egologos Research Laboratories, presented the first public, free, controlled and refrigerated fountain in the South of the country. It offers both still and sparkling water. It’s been called “Fontana leggera” (“light fountain”) because it helps families spending less money, also reducing the amount of waste and valorizing an essential resource.