Latest news and stories about water supply in environment in Portugal for expats and residents.
The consumer protection association DECO criticizes the water tariff in Almada, citing a double penalty for residents amidst a crisis that ERSAR identifies as a significant management failure.
Water reserves in the Almada municipality have reached 40%, prompting the Municipal Water and Sanitation Services to evaluate potential reductions in ongoing supply cuts that have affected areas like Costa da Caparica.
Approximately 1,500 residents in Costa da Caparica, Almada, staged a protest march to demand immediate action regarding persistent water supply failures that have left households without water for days during extreme heat.
Water supply is gradually returning to six areas in Almada following a burst pipe repair, though the municipality continues to face systemic shortages due to record-high consumption levels.
The Ministry of the Environment has determined that the Mina Cortiças water intake, which supplies 200 inhabitants, will be subject to protection measures to safeguard the public water supply for human consumption.
Firefighters transported around 22,000 litres of water daily, sometimes making two trips per day due to increasingly recurring water supply issues.
According to the executive, a water supply reservoir will be built in the Cantinho area.
Promoting water reuse in the Setúbal Peninsula is proposed as a priority measure to serve as a starting point for strengthening the water supply.
The municipality of Almada and EPAL will sign an agreement on Wednesday, September 23, to study a solution to improve the resilience and security of the local water supply system. Currently, Almada relies exclusively on groundwater from the Setúbal Peninsula aquifer. The agreement aims to diversify water sources by introducing surface water, addressing the pressure on underground reserves and climate change challenges. EPAL will develop a structural supply study at its own expense, with the goal of ensuring system redundancy. This follows a summer of water supply failures in the region, particularly in Costa da Caparica, which led to public protests and government intervention to find a long-term solution.
The municipality and EPAL will study a solution using surface water to reinforce the system
The hypothesis put forward by the Minister of Environment is seen by Quercus as the only “efficient” one, and Almada City Council views it favourably. The Zero Association would prefer direct extraction from the Tagus River.
The government aims to have a solution for the water shortage on the south bank of the Tagus within four months, focusing on the Castelo de Bode dam and the Tagus River. Quercus states that the proposal is the most efficient one.
The Zero Association has serious reservations about the government's solution to reinforce the water supply to the South Bank of the Tagus, including Almada, by using the Castelo de Bode Dam.
The Government is looking for a technical solution to strengthen water resilience in territories located on the South Bank of the Tagus. On the table is the use of surface sources from Castelo de Bode and the Tagus river. The decision is outlined in an order published this Wednesday in the Diário da República.
The water utility company Águas do Alto Alentejo has submitted a funding application to the Portugal 2030 programme to modernise its water supply and infrastructure systems.
Storm Kristin, on 28 January, left thousands of people without water in the Leiria municipality due to power outages, which also affected the remote management systems of the Municipalized Water and Sanitation Services of Leiria.
Águas do Alto Alentejo indicates that these applications to the Portugal 2030 Programme aim to serve the water supply and sanitation systems managed by the company.
Questions are being raised over how long the ageing Fagilde dam can safely remain in operation after the government acknowledged that its spillway cannot handle the flood conditions required under The post Safety questions raised over ageing Viseu dam appeared first on Portugal Resident.
The municipality of Seixal, in the Setúbal district, announced this Wednesday that it is drilling a water borehole to reinforce the public supply in the municipality, increasing the flow by approximately 40%. According to the Seixal City Council, this is the first of seven planned boreholes, located in Belverde, and has the capacity...
Councilwoman Maria João Costa announced that seven more boreholes will be drilled.
The company Águas de Portugal is allocating 7 million euros to improve and reinforce the water supply infrastructure originating from the Seia region.
Portugal has 172 public fountains that serve as the only form of public water supply. New legislation on drinking water tightens regulations and imposes strict deadlines on entities.
The possibility of the new Lisbon airport proceeding near the largest aquifer in the Iberian Peninsula is alarming environmentalists, who are calling for rigorous studies. Quercus warns of risks to the water supply in the Setúbal region and requests strict scrutiny of the project's environmental impacts.
Portugal maintains high levels of water quality and access to supply, but a lack of investment in infrastructure renewal is creating growing risks to service reliability, with over 26% of the precious potable water resource still being lost in the network. In an interview with Expresso, the president of the Water and Waste Services Regulation Authority (ERSAR) says the supply crisis in Almada should serve as a warning to municipalities and advocates for greater cooperation between local authorities, strengthening network efficiency, and an urgent commitment to modernising the sector's systems.
The Municipal Water and Sanitation Services (SMAS) in Almada have detected multiple locations experiencing major water leakage.
The new president of Águas de Portugal warns that the case in Almada is not unique. There are other municipalities where a lack of investment in the network could jeopardise public supply.
Macário Correia, president of AdP Aqua, has a list of nearly 300 measures to ensure water supply across the country after 2030. He warns that he will not complete them all, but has already defined priorities.
A borehole has entered operation ahead of schedule to respond to the state of alert in Almada. Four more are in preparation, including one in Seixal, which has already been awarded but is missing one authorisation.
