Investment in Basic Sanitation in Brazil Drops for the Third Consecutive Year

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – For the third consecutive year, investment in basic sanitation has dropped.

The Tietê River, which flows through the country’s most prosperous state, is a mirror of a receding Brazil. In 2017, investment in basic sanitation reverted to the 2011 level: R$11 billion (US$2.8 billion).

Researchers say that rivers are useful pointers for basic sanitation levels in municipalities. In São Paulo, the Pinheiros and Tietê rivers, killed by pollution, reflect the lag in statistics.

Everyone can see that untreated sewage is being released into nature even in the wealthiest regions of the country.

The city of Guarulhos discharges 96 percent of the filth it produces directly into streams, placing the second-largest municipality in the state of São Paulo among the worst offenders in the country, according to the Trata Brasil Institute ranking.

“It is unacceptable, given Brazil’s size and relevance in the world, to show such embarrassing sanitation figures.”

“A country that cannot provide people with clean water, remove sewage and treat it, will never be considered a developed country,” said Édison Carlos, executive president of the Trata Brasil Institute.

Eight out of ten Brazilians have treated water at home; there are still 35 million without this basic entitlement. And less than half the population, 100 million people, have no sewage collection.

A problem the size of the country

In the North Region, only ten percent have sewage collection; in the Northeast, 26 percent; in the South, less than 44 percent; Center-West, 53 percent; and Southeast, 78 percent.

“The greatest concern is that we are behind schedule and it will still take about forty or fifty years to achieve overall coverage,” said researcher Pedro Scazufca, of the Trata Brasil Institute.

The Ministry of Regional Development has acknowledged the need to expand funding to achieve a universal basic sanitation system and stated that it has been seeking alternatives to increase private investment in the sector.

The city of Guarulhos stated that it has signed a pipeline adjustment agreement and that by the end of 2020, 40 percent of its sewage will be treated.

Porto Velho, the state capital of Rondônia and last in the ranking, has its sanitation works stalled.

The government of Rondônia declared that it is analyzing the contracts and that there is no deadline to resume work.