A plunge into the river Aniene: how polluted is our water?

The River Aniene, a left bank tributary of the River Tiber in Central Italy, is almost certainly affected by various industrial and urban sources of pollution, even if information on its characteristics within the city of Rome is poor or limited to a few elements. In order to awaken students from a high school specialized in science (Rocci High School in Passo Corese, in the province of Rieti) to this problem, in the framework of an "Alternanza scuola-lavoro" project conducted by CNR-IRSA, the water quality of the River Aniene was verified at two sampling points inside the city of Rome analysing a number of parameters foreseen in the Italian Decree 152/2006. In particular many physico-chemical parameters plus anions and metals were measured; moreover, some microbiological parameters, both those foreseen in Italian Decree 152/2006 (faecal contamination) and others (such as total microbial number and viability), were evaluated. The results showed widespread faecal contamination of the water sampled. Some values for chemicals were also not in accordance with the good quality water status standards foreseen in the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC) of the European Union and in the Italian Decree 152/2006. Among the various geo-genic and human activity elements influencing the water pollution the human ones were the most significant for the bad river water quality.