34 million households were not served by sewage collection, and 9.6 million lacked water supply

Approximately 34.1 million Brazilian households, equivalent to 49.2% of the national total, had no access to sewage collection through a network, and more than 2,200 municipalities, 39.7% of the country, did not have this service in 2017, IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) reported this Wednesday (22nd).

The figures come from the National Basic Sanitation Survey and, according to experts, despite the three-year lag, the data reflect the current reality of Brazilian sanitation, since the sector did not receive the investment needed to change the picture during the period.

The national sanitation survey had not been published since 2008. In the study, the institute investigated the situation of the sector in all the country’s municipalities, assessing the provision of water supply through a general distribution network and sewage collection through a collection network.

According to the survey, 9.6 million households had no access to piped water supply, even though the percentage of Brazilian cities served by the service reached 99.6% (5,548 municipalities) of the total in 2017.

President Jair Bolsonaro (no party) signed into law last week the new basic sanitation regulatory framework, a measure that encourages private sector participation in the sector. According to the survey released by IBGE this Wednesday, only 3.1% of the entities providing sewage treatment in Brazil in 2017 were private — in 2008, the last year of the study, the figure was 2.1%.

The proportion of municipalities where the city government was the only or one of the operating entities fell from 57.1% in 2008 to 46.2% in 2017. But the share of state companies in service provision rose from 32.4% to 41.6%. The share of municipal autonomous agencies rose slightly from 9.6% to 11.0%.

As for water treatment, in the most recent survey, 3.6% of the entities responsible for the service were in the private sector, a lower proportion than the 4.5% in 2008. State companies accounted for 69.5% of the work, and municipal companies for 10.3%.

The survey confirms studies carried out by entities and companies in the sector on problems in resource management. Around 40% of the water used in Brazil in 2017 was lost along the distribution system before reaching its final destination. In addition, 5.5% of the volume of water distributed in the country is not treated before reaching the population.

According to Fernanda Malta, manager of the National Basic Sanitation Survey, every water supply system has physical losses throughout its stages. Physical losses in distribution occur mainly due to leaks in reservoirs and in the network itself.

“In Brazil, around 40% of the volume of water entering the distribution system (network reservoirs) is lost before reaching service users (households and establishments connected to the network) due to these leaks. This percentage varies between the major geographic regions, but exceeds 30% in all of them”, said Fernanda Malta.

Regarding tariffs for basic sanitation services, 91.9% of municipalities with a water supply network charged a tariff for the service, while 61.1% had a sewage tariff.

Subsidies, as economic instruments of social policy to ensure universal access to basic sanitation, were present in 72.6% of the cities with water supply and 67.8% of those with sewage collection.

In the North, for both services, only 40% of localities had this social policy instrument. In the Northeast, 79.2% of municipalities had subsidies for water supply services, while in the South the proportion was 79.3% of cities with a sewage network.

The basic sanitation model signed into law by President Jair Bolsonaro paves the way for companies to be involved in achieving universal access to water and sewage. The bill was approved by the Senate at the end of June, with 65 votes in favor and 13 against, with the entire PT caucus opposed.

The framework provides that Brazil should reach 90% of households with sewage collection and 99% with water supply by 2033, 13 years from now. Patrícia Sampaio, professor of Administrative Law at FGV and an infrastructure and sanitation specialist, believes the country needs to prioritize sanitation if it wants to meet the target.

“The challenge is huge. It will depend greatly on how robust the rules are for attracting investment. The idea that there will be an incentive in the law creates a more favorable environment of legal certainty and clear rules”, said Patrícia. She noted that, although the IBGE data are from 2017, the numbers are similar today.

Edson Aparecido da Silva, executive secretary of Ondas (National Observatory of the Rights to Water and Sanitation) and sanitation advisor to FNU (National Federation of Urban Workers), believes the sanitation deficit in Brazil will not be solved so simply, as the shortcomings are mainly found where vulnerable people live, such as favelas and the outskirts of large cities.

“Serving these areas will not interest the private sector, since there is no financial return and the investment needs are large”, said Edson.

Attorney Rubens Naves, former member of the State Environmental Council and of Sabesp’s Legal Department, and author of the book “Água, crise e conflito em São Paulo”, agrees that the debate revolves around the possibility of developing a business activity rather than an effective way of giving citizens — especially the most vulnerable — access to basic sanitation.

“A whole contingent of people in irregular settlements, favelas and environmental protection areas is left out”, said Naves.

Attorney Luiz Felipe Pinto Lima Graziano, a member of the Sanitation and Ethics and Compliance Committees of Abce (Brazilian Association of Engineering Consultants) and of the Basic Sanitation Studies Committee of Iasp (São Paulo Bar Institute), believes that greater private sector participation raises good expectations, but must be closely monitored.

“The biggest challenge will be governance and incentives for new contracts. The key point will be the oversight of these contracts”, said the attorney.

The estimated cost of achieving universal services under the sector’s new regulatory framework is BRL 700 billion over the period. Eleven provisions of the text were vetoed by the President. Among the vetoes is the one that would have allowed state-owned companies currently providing the services to renew contracts for another 30 years without a tender. Also vetoed was a passage that, according to the government, would have prevented the solid waste sector from benefiting from the new rules established by the legal framework.

News originally published by Diego Garcia in the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo (in Portuguese), on 07.22.2020.