The Cantareira System, the main supply source for the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo, closed the month of December with 20.18% of the useful volume. As a result, the system will continue to operate in Band 4 – Restriction from this Thursday, January 1st, according to information released by the National Water and Basic Sanitation Agency (ANA) and SP-Águas.
The percentage recorded on the last day of the year represents a drop in relation to the volume observed on November 30, when Cantareira had 20.99% of useful capacity. According to the operating rule, Range 4 is applied when the system level varies between 20% and 30%.
The agencies warn that, if the volume drops below 20%, Cantareira will move to Range 5 – Special, which provides for even more severe restrictions on water use. In this scenario, the risk of supply compromise would increase.
In an official statement, ANA and SP-Águas recommended that the Basic Sanitation Company of the State of São Paulo (Sabesp) intensify demand control and reinforced the request for the population to adopt cost-saving measures. The objective is to prevent the system from reaching critical levels, such as dead volume or the emergency range.
“The agencies reinforce the importance of adopting operational demand management measures by Sabesp within the scope of water supply services. They also recommend the adoption of measures by other users to preserve the volume of water in the system’s reservoirs”, says the joint note.
