Olhão Council’s municipal company, Ambiolhão, is said to have budgeted around €3.5 million to rid Armona, the Ria Formosa island set in a natural park, of hundreds of domestic septic tanks.
Despite having charged property owners for years for water supply and sewage treatment, only water has been supplied. An estimated 800 properties are linked to individual septic tanks as no foul water network has ever been installed on the island.