"The big engines" and the Etna aquifer: the engine that irrigated 700 hectares of lemon groves is coming back to light

Hello everyone! I want to tell you an incredible story. I am a place made of stone and water, immersed in an immense green horizon rich in lemon groves that gently slopes down to the blue sea of Acireale, with the majestic presence of the volcano behind me, from which everything depends: I am an industrial archaeology site called Consortium of the Waters of Santa Tecla. For a long time, I remained silent, fallen into oblivion, but with the voices of the men and women who worked and lived within my walls still resonating like a distant, hieratic chant, because I have been a place of community, work, and life. But today, finally, I am coming back to life.

My adventure began more than a hundred years ago, precisely on August 12, 1915, in front of the notary Biagio Scuderi. I was born as the Consortium for Irrigation “Acque Santa Tecla”, with a very specific purpose: to quench the lands of the north-east slope of the Timpa of Acireale, up to the districts of Guardia and Scillichenti. An additional building was added to the ancient structure that bears the inscription on the main facade in the 1940s. My first President was Cavalier Carlo Grassi Vigo. He was a man born in 1881, in the heart of Acireale, on Corso Savoia. In 1931, a plaque was placed within my walls to remember him, an indelible sign of the bond between my structure and the Grassi family.

As a water consortium, I have been the beating heart of agriculture in this area, a true engine of life and well-being as I have ensured the irrigation of over 700 hectares of citrus groves in the north-east of Acireale. This area is naturally suited for the production of lemons and verdello, recently recognized with the quality mark PGI as “lemon of Etna”. Do you want to admire the expanses of lemon groves on the slope of the Timpa, adorned at this time with the “golden buds” of lemons? Then you absolutely must look out from the terrace that overlooks my building. You can't miss it.

But where does all this strength, all this energy come from? Beneath me flows a hidden treasure: an underground aquifer of extraordinary quality, fed directly by the Etna reservoir. This is not a static reserve, but a dynamic system in perpetual balance. You should know that the freshwater flowing underground does not stagnate, and the water that is not extracted from the underground for agricultural purposes naturally flows towards the coast, re-emerging in the cold springs of Santa Maria La Scala, Pozzillo, and the “cocole” (pebbles) right at S. Tecla.

If you visit my water pumping station north of Santa Tecla, you will take a journey through time and observe the evolution of technology. In the early 1900s, to draw water from the aquifer, I used steam pumps powered by coal; I still keep the large storage facilities that were used to store it and some purchase orders for the loads, coming from my historical archive that still needs to be explored and studied. Later, I hosted an immense marine-derived engine powered by fuel oil. It was of gigantic size, so much so that the locals called it “U muturi ranni”, meaning “the big engine”. Since the mid-1990s, my heartbeat has become electric.

I have two pumping systems positioned on a volcanic cavity and on a real Roman well, where the water remains stable at just 4 meters deep. I also want to tell you that the Consortium owns a water supply network that, starting from the pumping station located downstream, pushes water up the steep wall of the Timpa di Acireale to the district of Santa Maria Ammalati and that this network extends for about 10 km.

The future I envision: my spring could be integrated into the heritage of the city’s springs, enhancing this gift from Etna for both irrigating fields and for drinking use in your homes. But my dream is, above all, to transform this place from a dusty site of industrial archaeology, despite its incredible history, into a vibrant multicultural center, a place for exhibitions, conferences, but also a starting point for excursions in the wonderful green paths scattered throughout the Timpa di Acireale.

To discover this wonder, we await you with the stories of our Apprendisti Ciceroni, on the days of March 21 and 22 for the FAI Spring Days, at the Consortium of the waters of Santa Tecla. And who knows how many other hidden stories are waiting to be reborn and told!

Ic “Primo Istituto Comprensivo” di Acireale