[Water supply and public health]

EU legislative framework on water for human consumption has recently been deeply modified. As from 25 December 2003, the Directive 80/778/EEC has been abrogated by the Directive 98/83/EC, transposed into the Italian legislation with the law 31/2001, which establishes as an inspiring principle the observance of laws common to all Member States while leaving them the discretion to introduce secondary parametric values. The directive provides that the parametric values should be respected until water distribution, by making the final user fall into the sphere of responsibility as a responsible of either a public commercial concern or a privately-run concern. This piece of legislation lays the foundation for an actual cultural revolution and the involvement of all the institutional, political and technical components of the territory, the aim being to safeguard a property that "belongs to future generations" and, thus, to be protected.