Six localities in the Almada municipality will be without water from 10:00 p.m. today until 6:00 a.m. Saturday, as part of the City Council’s measures to restore water reserves, the local authorities announced.
In a joint note published on the official Facebook pages of the Almada City Hall and the Almada Municipal Water and Sanitation Services (SMAS), it is specified that the “total shutdown of the water supply” will affect Feijó, Laranjeiro, Vale Flores, Barrocas, Cova da Piedade and Chegadinho.
“The restoration of the supply will be carried out gradually, so water replenishment may reach taps at different times within the affected areas,” the Setúbal district authorities said.
On Thursday night the nightly water cuts were carried out in the localities of Trafaria, Raposeira, Corvina, Fonte Santa, Banática and Porto Brandão, and on Wednesday night in Charneca da Caparica, Aroeira, Marisol, Fonte da Telha, Palhais, Lazarim, Botequim, Vila Nova da Caparica, Capuchos, Pilotos, Funchalinho, Vale Rosal, Vale Cavala, Quintinhas and Quinta de Santa Teresa.
In recent days, there have been repeated water outages, with particular impact on Costa da Caparica, and the contingency plan of the Almada Municipal Water and Sanitation Services (SMAS) was activated on Monday and a crisis unit created.
Meanwhile, the president of the Almada City Council, Inês de Medeiros (PS), declared an alert status in the municipality on Wednesday.
“While the alert status remains, restrictions on water consumption will be implemented to preserve this essential resource for domestic supply and for services indispensable to the population,” she said.
Among the measures is the total shutdown of water supply in certain zones of the municipality, from 22:00 to 06:00, and the prohibition of all uses of water from the public network that do not correspond to domestic or essential uses, namely watering of public and private gardens and golf courses, car washing, filling of pools, the use of showers and foot-washing facilities in the seaside areas, the operation of ornamental fountains, artificial lakes and other water features for aesthetic purposes, and the washing of outdoor pavements, courtyards, walls and roofs.
From Saturday, several Almada municipal sports facilities will have restricted access and the Trafaria Com Prova event, planned to take place between today and Sunday, and Solar Com Vida, planned for Saturday in Sobreda, were postponed due to the alert situation.
According to the municipality, the situation facing Almada is exceptional and results from a very significant increase in water consumption, which has placed unprecedented pressure on the supply system.
However, the Almada City Council and SMAS guarantee supplies to essential facilities and services, namely hospitals, health centers, nursing homes, firefighters and other critical infrastructures, making available alternative means of supply, including tanker trucks, in areas where this proves necessary, and reinforcing coordination with neighboring municipalities and other competent bodies to ensure full capacity to respond.
Meanwhile, the Minister of the Environment and the president of the Almada City Council held a meeting on Thursday, also attended by the presidents of the Portuguese Environment Agency, Águas de Portugal, EPAL and SMAS Almada.
At the end of the meeting, the minister assured that a new water extraction borehole will be put into operation by the end of the weekend, increasing the system’s capacity by about 20%, and that the current water supply constraints in Almada should be resolved within two to three weeks.
