The tourist properties in Tuscany, main destination for affluent foreign holidaymakers, they should limit the use of water in swimming pools them this summer as they exist fears of shortageswith Italy facing yet another drought.

Acquedotto del Fiora (ADF), the water company that serves a third of Tuscany through a network of more than 8,000 kilometers, will make it illegal to use drinking water in private swimming pools intended for holidaymakers from June to the end of September.

Villas in rural areas and farmhouses used for agritourism will instead need to fill their pools with water from private wells or with water delivered from tanks, which increases costs.

ADF president Roberto Renai said the measures adopted last year needed to be repeated because of the effects of “ongoing climate change”. The use of drinking water for swimming pools in private villas that do not host guests was already banned.

Federico Taddei, president of an association representing farmhouse owners in Tuscany’s Siena province, said there was great concern about the potential impact of the ban.

“Every day we have to change 1 to 2% of the water. Over four months, the change corresponds to one and a half swimming pools,” he stated. “This is the minimum required to have a swimming pool with clean water that can be used by tourists who choose our province.”

Siena, known for the production of Chianti wine, has 1,200 agritourism units and is the largest such center in Tuscany. About one in five tourist farmhouses in Siena has a swimming pool for guests.