Exactly 12 years ago, announced a discount on water bills for those who reduced their consumption amid the storm that was ravaging Grande. Today, even with the supply systems in place, the São Paulo government and the company have not seen, until now, the need to repeat the policy.
On February 1, 2014, Sabesp announced that it would be up to anyone to reduce consumption by at least 20%. The measure was valid for users of , the main reservoir in the metropolitan region, which had, on that date, 21.9% of its volume filled.
At the time, the level of the Metropolitan Integrated System, which brings together the seven systems that supply Greater São Paulo, had a useful level of 38.2%. The volume is higher than that currently recorded – until this Saturday (31), the level was 34.6% in the integrated system.
Cantareira, until Saturday, was at 22.7%. The level is close to that recorded in the reservoir on January 31, 2014, 22.2%. The system supplies water to 9 million people, almost half of the 21 million who live in the metropolitan region.
The discount on bills, known as bonus, was applied between February 2014 and April 2016. The first time the policy was adopted by the sanitation company was also during a period of water crisis.
The state Secretariat for the Environment, Infrastructure and Logistics, in a note sent to the Panel, said that today supply systems operate in an integrated manner, which makes it easier to monitor issues such as stored volume and consumption.
“Given the effectiveness of the ongoing measures and the available technical data, no bonuses or contingency fees have been adopted to date. This integrated management model in force today did not exist in 2014, when the systems operated in isolation, and today it contributes to monitoring and preventing the worsening of shortage scenarios”, says the text.
The government (Republicans) avoids treating the shortage as a water crisis. This is the first time that Sabesp has faced a shortage alert since it was privatized in July 2024.
Since August last year, the company has been reducing water pressure for a longer period at night, to try to reduce the effects of the dry period. In December, residents of the region reported the lack.
The Tarcísio administration claims, however, that the reduction in pressure “resulted in savings of more than 82.9 billion liters of water — a volume equivalent to the monthly consumption of around 14 million people”.
Also in a note sent to the report, Sabesp stated that it has provided water tanks to low-income families in the metropolitan region with the aim of expanding water reserves.
The company said it has installed 130 water tanks and has another 24 being installed in Greater São Paulo. She did not say since when she has carried out the action.
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