If we look at the conflict and participation around the integrated water cycle
(from water captation to its reintroduction into the environment), we discover
how those are relevant in the upstream and downstream cycle phases. On the
upstream phases, there is a great deal of knowledge about social dynamics;
the use of catchments can generate environmental conflicts (for example due
to the construction of dams) and the alternative uses of water (i.e. irrigation,
tourism, civil uses) often put cities and the countryside against each other.
On the downstream stages, on the other hand, there is not much knowledge.
Yet, the wastewater management, through mechanical sewage systems, generates
large quantities of sewage sludge (in 2018, 3.2 million tons in Italy). Around
this specific phase, there are scientific controversies and social conflicts regarding
the risk related to the different forms of sludge disposal. In this case,
the spatial dimension of the conflict is closely linked to the socio-technical
dimension, because the types of purification plants and the level of risk that
regulates the possible uses of sludge are socio-technical choices that have
different implications in terms of environmental justice. For this reason, this
paper intends to shed light on the downstream phases of the integrated water
cycle, describing four case studies in Lombardy, Italy.
