In a statement, AMAL, an entity that brings together the 16 municipalities of the Algarve, reveals that projects that promote the “efficient management of water supply systems” in the region can be presented until September 30th.
The notice is mainly aimed at entities managing water supply networks for final consumers.
According to AMAL, the aim is to support operations aimed at reducing real losses in water distribution systems, namely “the rehabilitation of degraded or inadequate infrastructure for good management of real losses, pressure management, and leak detection in more problematic infrastructure components in real losses”.
Data released in June by DECO Proteste indicated that the Algarve lost a total of 15 million cubic meters of treated water in the supply networks in 2022, an amount that would be enough to meet half of the needs of Algarve families.
According to an analysis carried out by the Portuguese Association for Consumer Protection (DECO), data from the 16 municipalities in the region indicate that year, half recorded high losses and 15 were below the minimum recovery rates for aging networks.
According to the association, Lagoa, Lagos, Silves, São Brás de Alportel, Loulé, and Castro Marim are the 'top' six of the Algarve municipalities that wasted the most treated water in 2022. Aljezur, Tavira, Alcoutim, Vila Real de Santo António, and Portimão are the municipalities that have wasted the least water.
The 4th notice of support for the rehabilitation of infrastructures responsible for water losses published comes within the scope of “Measure SM1 – Reducing Water Losses in the Urban Sector”, with financing from community funds from the Recovery and Resilience Program (PRR).