Abstract

This article provide a critical review of the ongoing scenario in the Italian water industry starting from a pivotal point, the definition of water as an economic resource. Considering the industrial complexity and the huge financial needs that clearly open a question on the financing of the sector, it points out the long-lasting weakness of the water industry, especially on the infrastructure side, and the fallouts of an efficient management of it due to the absence of a clear regulatory framework that ask for an adequate industrial policy design of this industry as a whole.