Water reserves held in the Algarve’s dams are sufficient to supply the region if it does not rain for two years, said Isabel Soares, the head of Águas do Algarve.
The commissioning of the controversial Odelouca dam to the north of Silves, which began providing water a year and a half ago, completed the water supply master plan for the region.
The dam has a capacity of over 100 million cubic metres of water and supplies drinking water that, Soares claims, is indistinguishable from bottled water. According to data provided by Águas do Algarve, the Odelouca dam is currently at 65% of its maximum capacity, the Odeleite dam is at 73% and Beliche is at 69%.
Construction of the Odelouca dam began in 2001 but work soon stopped due to a complaint by environmental organisations in Brussels. Then there was a dispute with the Spanish contractor...
The dam is needed as water consumption in the Algarve increased by 4% this summer compared to consumption in the 2012 tourist season. Between January and May this year there was a decrease in water consumption of 3% over the previous year due to the rain. The free water from above meant that municipalities saved water as they did not have to water public green spaces, but Soares noted that consumers are also more cautious due to the crisis, (and the ever increasing cost).
The councils might be careful in using water but they are far more careful when paying for it, or not paying for it. As at the end of September the region’s councils owed €74 million to Águas do Algarve despite €20 million being paid off by councils that had a cash injection from the taxpayer through money from the Program of Support to Local Economies (LMP). The money owed to the water company represents 2¼ years supply at today's prices.
Águas do Algarve sells water to the Algarve municipalities for sale to the domestic market at €0.47 per cubic metre with each municipality selling it on at whatever markup it sees fit to charge.
Nationally about a third of the water distributed does not get paid for, it ‘gets lost’ through a leaky infrastructure, or trade customers such as councils simply prefer not to pay their water bills. This loses the industry €170 million annually according to the President of Regulatory Authority Water Services and Waste (ERSAR), Jaime Melo Baptista who said that this "demonstrates the need to invest in increased efficiency and maintenance of the systems, and the reduction of faults." The internationally acceptable loss rate is about 15% of the total water supplied, Portugal is double this.
In Silves, where Isabel Soares was the mayor until she took up her new post with the regional water company, 54.3% of water supplied never gets paid for or is lost. This compares poorly with Faro where only 15.4% of water supplied is lost or not paid for.
