Four Taps

A new drinking fountain with four taps in Piazza del Municipio. The body of the fountain was made from the base of an old lamp post and it is placed just behind the stop of the shuttle buses which carry cruise passengers in town. Now our guests will be able to quench their thirst, but there are still no public bathrooms available for them.

See also: Piazza del Municipio - A New Look - Without Water - Habemus aquam!

Versione italiana

A New Look

This water fountain in Via dei Bottini dell'Olio has a new look, and even more the wall behind it.

I took this picture of the same fountain in January 2013: it was posted in March of the same year, the occasion was our glamorous three days without water.

See also: Without Water

English version

Enough!

We are now well into the XXI century, but as a Livornese you may still end up without running water for several days. It happened last March and small army of technicians wasn't able to fix a broken main for the best part of a week.

If you are an academic researching potholes, our town would be the perfect destination for your sabbatical year, but the task is going to be huge nonetheless. For your dissertation keep an eye on Viale Marconi: it is our crown jewel, with more holes than asphalt and a funny speed limit of 10 kilometers (6 miles) per hour.

Everywhere generators are used in emergencies or to supply power to faraway places, but in Livorno a huge diesel model can materialize itself at your doorstep, in a central street, where it is kept running for days and nights, with a complete disregard for the quiet and the sleep of the people living nearby, left to cope with an ugly synergy of noise and exhaust pollution.

As a form of protest, our blog will stop posting until this monster is turned down. But who will care?

After twelve days and twelve nights they finally shut down that damned generator. Livorno Daily Photo in Pisa will go on for twelve days as well, so we have another Pisan week before returning on home turf.

See also: Without Water - Dried Up - Third Day without Water - Habemus aquam! - Viale Marconi

Versione italiana

Habemus aquam!

Finally we have running water again. Luckily there are still around several of these century-old drinking water fountains which, in the lower parts of Livorno, have never ceased to supply drinking water. Fixing them with multiple faucets is probably one of the few positive things done in these days.

See also: Without Water - Dried Up - Third Day without Water
External links: The dig - Queueing for water 2 - 3 - 4 (Il Tirreno)

Versione italiana

Third Day without Water

On the plinth of the monument to Ferdinando III, Grand Duke of Tuscany, in Piazza della Repubblica:

A Ferdinando III auspice dell'opera onde la città ebbe ricco ristoro di acque salubri gratitudine pubblica

(To Ferdinand III inspirer of the works from which the city received plentiful relief of salubrious waters public gratitude)

Yesterday, on the other side of the same square, longer lines to get some water, with the above mentioned monument in background.

See also: Without Water - Dried Up - Habemus aquam!
External links: The dig - Queueing for water 2 - 3 - 4 (Il Tirreno)

Versione italiana

Dried Up

Yesterday was the second day of a Livorno without water. The underground main pipe supplying water from Filettole has been heavily damaged along the Canale dei Navicelli. Fixing the broken pipe is made harder by the nearby canal which keeps flooding the dig.

Meanwhile, a tanker in Piazza della Repubblica is supplying drinking water.

See also: Without Water - Third Day without Water - Habemus aquam! - Canale dei Navicelli
External links: The dig - Queueing for water 2 - 3 - 4 (Il Tirreno)

Versione italiana

Without Water

Livorno, a city of 160,000, is without running water since yesterday. A control unit at the local utility was allegedly struck by a lightning during a storm last night. They probably have never heard of the interesting contraption invented by Benjamin Franklin in 1749. Schools will be closed today and we will be on the dry side at least until the late afternoon.

See also: Dried Up - Third Day without Water - Habemus aquam!

Versione italiana