Monitoring and Control

The sea, in a coastal city, is what is called the "final receiving body of water", which is the only way for the disposal of storm water, wastewater appropriately treated, and of course blackmixed with the rainwater into a suitable report which aims to protect the marine waters and to ensure, at the same time, the need to dispose of riverwaters into the sewer system in case of rain. The containment of the risks of pollution of marine waters along the coast of the city development by carrierssewer on it in an accident, directly or indirectly, is a fundamental objective which must tend to the sustainable development of a coastal town.

An efficient structuring of the sewer system upstream of the receiving body of water, along with careful management, a constant preventive maintenance and a slavish and constant monitoring of the functionality, consequently, become elements of critical importance and fundamental to the protection against the risk of pollution of the marine waters.

Although the problems of marine pollution can not besolved on a local level, in a context of very high density of risk factors pollution areas of water directly in front of a metropolis of over one million inhabitants as Naples, the operational solution of problems can depend only by local institutions, that are directly affected by the issue.

The "SIMPAC" - Integrated System of Integrated Environmental Monitoring and Protection

The method adopted by the City of Naples to obtain an efficient and effective action was to concentrate in one Interne Service (The Department of Environment Services -Sea Resource Service), the functions of monitoring, controlling, programming and operating on the environmental context. For this reason, inrecent years, the Department of Environment - Sea Resource Service of Naples, in collaboration with the Department of Environmental Sciences of the University "Parthenope", the ARPAC and other institutions, started aproject, even though in a prototype form, the "Integrated System of Integrated Environmental Monitoring and Protection of Naples" (known as SIMPAC Naples), whose aim is to reducethe risk of anthropogenic pollution on the entire shoreline of the city.

The system, which until now was mainly applied to the coastal area in the city center, between the Molosiglio and Largo Sermoneta, which represents the most critical area. This area in made up of a network of environmental sensors placed in the main area of the coastal line, whose surveys, supplemented by other sources from non-instrumentals tools (quantity and type of MsW collected on the beach, results of the bacteriologic alanalysis, size and type of trails and accumulations of refuse, and so on), represent the basis of the data needed to the determination of environmental quality. Through the assessment and integrated analysis of these data, it is possible to predict and/or understand in real time the genesis and dynamics of pollution, both bacteriological and physical, as well as the body of water concerned in order to intervene operatively before the problems extends to other areas. However, to avoid that such a complex activity of study and analysis could become a mere instrument of understanding and aid for the subsequent planning and design (as unfortunately happens in the majority of the cases), it is necessary that they are actually able to alarm and activate theOperation Section (and in case of emergency the Emergency Point) of the SIMPAC, that on the basis of the acquired knowledge, is able to intervene with the necessary immediacy to prevent the occurance of problematic, or to find the right solution aimed at the containment of a problem which may already has arisen. The results obtained with this prototype system have already been many, primarly the conservation of suitable conditions for swimming, moreover itallowed to the Sea Service Resource to acquire a unique experience in this specific and complex sector.

In particular, the very varied experience in the field has allowed us to identify the different criticality of the system and the complex procedures related to the large number of professionalism and skills involved, the strong integration between the administrative-bureaucratic and procedural ones-maintenance and operating up to the technical-scientific interpretation, verification and evaluation of data. It also helped to recognize and appreciate the strong and unexplored potential of so strong and tight integration between applied research and institutional operational activities.

Expected Results

The level of activity reached so far by SIMPAC Naples achieved important results on the stretch of sea analyzed. Thanks to the studies and interventions implemented consequential damages that, after many years of prohibition, in 2003 it was able to recover all the water on the waterfront of the city and beyond, but it is only thanks to SIMPAC, even if only in prototype form, which is then able to protect over time until today. It allowed, in fact, to identify the main causes of bacteriological found in the sea area in question and to understand the dynamics, mode of spread, timing, etc.. depending on the actualweather conditions, allowing it to develop procedures for intervention and alarm systems for the most significant events. The goal of the Blue Flag for the most noble parts ofthe coast of the promontory of Posillipo, and to keep during the time, however, it requires to the city to have an integrated monitoring system much more "powerful" in terms of spatial resolution. The level of monitoring, outreach and intervention capacities necessary to do so will therefore need to be very high compared to the current prototype condition, moreover they should be able to guarantee the permanence of the best areas of water citizens in all important occasions and in any weather condition, both acting upstream with a suitable planned maintenance of the network terminals, both Intercepting any deficiencies and/or trails, sothat by implementing all the procedures of defense possible.