The Sarno, known as ''Sarnus'' to the Romans, is a stream that passes through
Pompeii
Pompeii (, ) was an ancient city located in what is now the ''comune'' of Pompei near Naples in the Campania region of Italy. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area (e.g. at Boscoreale, Stabiae), was buried ...
to the south of the
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
city of
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
. It is considered the most polluted river in Europe. It flows about from the base of Mt. Sarno to the
Bay of Naples
A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a narr ...
collecting water from the Solofrana and Cavaiola tributaries during the course of its flow.
It is still partially used for
irrigation
Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow Crop, crops, Landscape plant, landscape plants, and Lawn, lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,00 ...
, as well as the transportation of goods and fishing. It is part of the Sarno
river basin
A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, the ...
, which covers about .
The Sarno is one the most polluted rivers in Europe, due to agricultural waste and insufficiently treated industrial waste water.
[Peter Greenberg, ''Don't Go There! The Travel Detective's Essential Guide to the Must-Miss Places of the World''. St Martins Press, 2008, S. 27–28]
There are about 500 small industrial units in the area which still emit pollute. Water treatment plants have been installed, however, they do not work to full capacity. The mouth of the river continues to make bathing in the sea impossible, despite numerous protests.
The plain at the mouth of the river was the site of the
Battle of the Sarno, fought in 1460.
References
External links
Sarno River: ItalySOURCE: National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Bethesda, MD, USA
Rivers of the Province of Naples
Rivers of the Province of Salerno
Rivers of Italy
Drainage basins of the Tyrrhenian Sea
{{Italy-river-stub