Carlo Gubellini, the mayor of the city of Castenasso, said that thousands of liters of water are “lost” every day with the double bath, which many hairdressers consider to be beneficial for their clients.
The mayor of an Italian city has banned hairdressers and barbers from washing their clients’ hair twice in a bid to save water during one of the worst droughts in decades.
Carlo Gubellini, mayor of the town of Castenasso, near Bologna in the Emilia-Romagna region, said thousands of gallons of water were “lost” every day with the double bath, which many hairdressers consider beneficial to their clients.
Some argue, according to the Guardian, that he is the only mayor in Italy to take such a measure, which would include checks and fines of up to 500 euros for hairdressers violating the rule as Italy battles drought. during an intense, prolonged heatwave.
In Castenaso, which has a population of 16,000, there are 10 hairdressers and barbershops.
“Castenasso is small. Imagine what this means when it comes to drinking water in big cities. “We made this decision on Saturday, taking into account that the hairdressers are closed on Sundays and Mondays, in order to give them enough time to adapt”, underlined the mayor Carlo Gubellini.
A manual that accompanies the instructions of the measure states that from an open tap flows 13 liters of water per minute and that it takes at least 20 liters to rinse one’s hair twice.
Gubellini said the rule, which was in effect until the end of September, had gone well. “The response has been positive,” he said. “This regulation does not have an oppressive purpose, but rather helps the citizens.”
And while Castenasso’s hairdressers reopened on the morning of Tuesday 28 June, some were not so impressed.
“It looks a bit ridiculous,” said Katia, who works at Nuova Equipe.
“It is difficult not to be able to wash and rinse twice, as some of the products we use require it, but so do hair types, especially if the customer’s hair is quite dirty.”
Mayors of other Italian cities have also imposed measures to limit water consumption, such as Milan, where public taps have been turned off. The regions of northern Italy are suffering the most from the prolonged drought of Italy’s largest river, the Po, after heavy rainfall and snowfall this winter.
Check out the news feed and stay up to date with the latest news.
