On 30 December 2020, the Senate gave the final go-ahead to the water bonus provided for in the text of the Budget Law 2021. With this amendment, a supplementary water bonus of EUR 1,000 per beneficiary was granted to individuals resident in Italy 'for interventions to replace ceramic sanitary ware with new reduced-flush fixtures and existing sanitary fixtures, shower heads, and shower columns with new water-flow-limiting fixtures, on existing buildings, parts of existing buildings, or individual property units. The water bonus must be used by 31 December 2021.
Water bonus: what is it?
What is the water bonus? It is a bonus of €1,000 to be used by 31 December 2021 to replace sanitary fixtures with new devices with reduced drainage and to change taps, showerheads and shower columns with new water-saving devices, on existing buildings, parts of existing buildings or individual building units.
Water bonus: amount
Regarding the amount of the water bonus, a total of EUR 20 million has been allocated in 2021. The EUR 1,000 water bonus will therefore be granted until the economic resources made available by the state are exhausted. Furthermore, it has been established that "The water bonus [...]does not constitute taxable income of the beneficiary and is not relevant for the purposes of calculating the value of the indicator of the equivalent economic situation."
How the water bonus is paid
The definition of the modalities and terms for disbursement of the bonus, also with respect to the spending limit, will be entrusted to a decree of the Minister of the Environment to be issued within 60 days of the measure coming into force, i.e. by March. It is not yet clear whether this will be a deduction or a direct discount on the purchase, although the initial hypothesis would be that of a tax credit. We will keep you informed about this.
The requirements for claiming the water bonus
Let us now turn to the requirements of the water bonus: this will be used to support the replacement of existing ceramic toilets, faucets, showerheads and shower columns with new water-saving devices for existing buildings, parts of existing buildings or individual property units. Expenditure eligible for the contribution is that incurred for the following interventions:
- "the supply and installation of ceramic sanitary WCs with a maximum drainage volume equal to or less than 6 litres and related drainage systems, including related plumbing and masonry works and the dismantling and decommissioning of pre-existing systems";
- "the supply and installation of taps and mixers for bathrooms and kitchens, including water flow control devices with a flow rate equal to or less than 6 litres per minute, and shower heads and shower columns with a water flow rate equal to or less than 9 litres per minute, including any related plumbing and masonry work and the dismantling and decommissioning of pre-existing systems".
Water bonus: how to get it and Idral's solutions
How to obtain the water bonus? To do so, it is necessary to replace traditional plumbing products with low water consumption solutions. Idral offers many solutions that guarantee compliance with the requirements of the regulations and that are certified by the Water Label. The European Water Label is an initiative launched in 2014 to promote water-efficient devices and provide consumers with information on water consumption and efficiency ratings of water-using devices in order to influence their choice in selecting more water-efficient devices. Idral was the first Italian company to join this system to guarantee the water efficiency of products and transparent information for customers.
The ideal solutions, therefore, for replacing toilets with products with a maximum flushing volume of 6 litres or less, are the monobloc ceramic sanitary WCs of the EASY series for disabled and elderly people, which guarantee a consumption of 5 litres/min and are increasingly installed in private residences, as well as hospitals, nursing homes and shopping centres.
As far as bathroom and kitchen taps are concerned, Idral offers a wide range of products with a flow rate of 6 litres/min or less. These include:
- Manual taps: many of Idral's manual taps, from the KiDS series for children to minimalist wall or basin taps, have a 6 litre/min flow rate limiter. In addition, kitchen taps such as theArchimede can also be fitted with flow limiters.
- Timed taps: almost all Idral timed taps for washbasins have a maximum flow rate of 6 litres/min, such as the taps in the Minimal washbasin Series (6lt/min), INOX Series (5lt/min), 45 Series (6lt/min), Modern Series (6lt/min).
- Electronic taps: Our electronic taps have a standard flow rate of 6 litres per minute, which can be customised according to customer requirements. It should also be noted that electronic taps are increasingly being installed in private residences as well as public spaces, an example is this reference: Electronic faucet for guest bathroom.
To replace showers with low-consumption products, Idral proposes various solutions:
- Showers: for indoor projects, the stainless steel wall-mounted shower panels with timed mixer and push-button control and 8 litre/min flow rate limiter are excellent, while for outdoor projects we recommend the aluminium shower columns, with 8 litre/min flow rate limiter, timed taps and a solar system for heating water that also saves energy.
- Shower taps: with flow limiter 9 litres/min, such as progressive thermostatic mixers, e.g. 908.32 or 900.42, or timed mixers, such as 08132 and 08133.
- Showerheads: We also offer the possibility of controlling the flow rate with shower heads, such as the 09036 or 09033, which have an 8 l/min flow limiter.
Quoting Ediltecnico, "If the 28.4 million 'pre-1990' WCs were replaced with new devices with a maximum discharge of 6 litres, this would result in a structural saving of 414 million cubic metres of water per year, a saving of 665 million euros for Italian households and a reduction of 2.9 million tonnes of CO2 due to the lower use of electricity needed for supply and distribution. In essence, an extraordinary result for the environment and quality of life. The Water Bonus therefore represents a very positive result for Italy: Idral wants to contribute to the defence of the environment thanks to low-consumption hydro-sanitary solutions.