News that Portugal as a whole loses up to a third of its water through “leaks, theft or illicit use” was revealed by the ERSAR (national water regulating authority) at the weekend. This represents a staggering loss of €167 million in wasted water.
The problem isn’t with main suppliers, a representative from Águas do Algarve explained. It’s with the country’s municipalities, “almost all of which have leaky pipes and shoddy systems” that they can do nothing about as they are broke.
The bottom line is that as much as 35% of supplies never make it through the nation’s taps. In cash terms, this represents a loss of €167 million per year – and there is very little that can be done about it apparently.
“The issue of loss from our own system is minimal,” Águas do Algarve’s Teresa Fernandes told the Algarve Resident. “The leaks are all in the systems run by the municipalities – and the problem there is that there is no money to fix them.”
ERSAR’s Jaime Melo Baptista warns the situation spells disaster for water suppliers and customers, who will feel the consequences every time they open their water bills.
