Residents of São Paulo, Brazil, are severely short of water available for an average of 14 hours a day

According to the Brazilian "São Paulo Page" website reported on January 28, residents in Brazil's Greater São Paulo region (including São Paulo City and metropolitan area cities) have suffered a serious water shortage crisis, with an average of 14 hours and 20 minutes a day without running water. Residents of the city of São Paulo have been experiencing the longest water shortage, reaching 15 hours and 13 minutes. All water-scarce residents are victims of the government's "reduce water pressure in pipelines to conserve water".

The above data was collected by a new technical tool on the website of the São Paulo Basic Sanitation Company (Sabesp), which is used to measure and record the length of time that water pressure drops in each neighborhood. Only the Ancient Magic Pterodactyl Park neighborhood in the northern part of São Paulo does not need to lower the water pressure.

As the dry weather persisted, Sabesp began to conserve water by reducing water pressure. To reduce pressure on the water supply network, the Alkming government reduced the amount of water piped into residents' homes and commercial premises. This reduces the loss of water resources in the pipeline on the one hand, and on the other hand, leaves residents without water available.

The biggest side effect of the measure is that it exacerbates the current water supply crisis. The government has achieved its goal of conserving water, but almost all of the city's neighborhoods in the Greater São Paulo region are left without water availability, especially in the afternoons, evenings and early mornings. As complaints from residents grew louder, Sabesp created a display page on its website to inform users of the date and time periods for lowering water pressure in the Greater São Paulo area.

Due to the severity of water scarcity, in addition to reducing water pressure, the Government of São Paulo has taken other water-saving measures, for example, the Government has increased its 50 per cent bonus to reward residents who conserve water. The state of São Paulo has also begun discussions about increasing water bills starting in April, and residents with large water consumption may need to pay additional fees.

In addition, the Alkming government sought to mitigate the impact of the water crisis on the Greater São Paulo region by using water from the Billings Reservoir. However, the garbage in the Billings Reservoir is piled up, and all kinds of bacteria grow in the water, and the water quality is poor. Entrepreneur Ganilla said: "This is a terrible phenomenon, and the water quality has been getting worse and worse in recent years. Sabesp, the São Paulo company, said it could convert the water in the reservoir into drinking water, but did not disclose specifics.

Today, the maximum time to reduce water pressure in the city of São Paulo is 18 hours in 15 neighborhoods, including San Mateus, Aricanduwa in the eastern region and Sagaman in the southern region. The san miguel neighborhood in the eastern region has a minimum time to lower water pressure, at 7 hours. However, according to interviews with some neighborhood dwellers in the São Paulo Pages, the actual water shortage time exceeded the water shortage time displayed on Sabesp's website.

For example, the website shows that the Kanjaiba neighborhood in the eastern region lowers the water pressure between 1 and 4 p.m. every day. However, nearby residents and shopkeepers said water was not available until 8 p.m. or even later, with water not coming until 10 p.m. for a few days. Local residents added that when the tap comes back to the water, it cannot be put to fill the tank because there is no pressure in the pipe.

31-year-old manicurist Elarina Maria Gurela Moras goes to work at 8 p.m. every night. According to her, the nail salon came to the water at 9 p.m., but it was an hour later that the water did not have water pressure. At 1 p.m. every day, the faucets start to run out of water, so Eleliana needs to store water in a bucket in advance. She said: "I can't do anything without water. I could only pick up water from a bucket in advance and give foot baths to some of the guests. "Due to lack of water, no one in the beauty salon could use the toilet.

Hamilton Almeida, a 33-year-old pub receptionist, also said water did not come until around 10 p.m. "I left work at 2 a.m. to take a shower with water from a bucket I received the morning before," he said. I've been in this situation for about three months. ”

Some community health posts also do not have water available in the morning. Lucimal Silva, a 51-year-old chef, said: "The children went to the water dispenser to get water to drink, but there was not a drop of water, my heart was broken. There is no water in my house during the day and the situation is very serious. ”

Paul Massato, director of sabesp in São Paulo, said that if there is not enough precipitation and the company's equipment does not work before the reservoir dries up, a five-day-a-week water restriction scheme using continuous casters will be adopted. Governor Alkamine said 20 percent of Brazilian residents are in a state of emergency to deal with public disasters and that the government will work to ensure water supplies. "There is no shortage of water in St. Paul, and there is no shortage of water," he said. We are planning and investing in a number of projects to deal with the water crisis. (Intern Editor: Wenwen Zhu)

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