Venezuelan capital Caracas loses over half of its potable water resources through leakage in damaged networks, an official from public water utility Hidrocapital said. The fact that Hidrocapital provides water free to low-income communities does not help either, since people who do not pay for water tend to use more.
Read full article on: BNamericas.com [subscription site], 16 Mar 2010
Although more than 95% of Cubans have access to potable water, approximately 15,000l of water (50% of all water supplied) is lost each month due to leaks in the pipelines. To rectify the situation, the national water resources institute (INRH) has drawn up a plan to repair the infrastructure over a period of 10-15 years.
Read the full article on: BNamericas.com [subscription site], 12 Jan 2010
Posted in Cuba, Water distribution
Tagged leakage, rehabilitation, S1001-LAC, urban water supply
Mexico City officials have shut down a main pipeline providing fresh water to millions of residents because reserves have fallen to record low levels. The closure, due to last 36 hours, will affect five million people, or a quarter of the city’s population. Unusually low rainfall [in 2008] and major leakage [50% of water never reaches consumers] are blamed for leaving reservoirs less than half full.
[...] This is the third time the capital has faced such a drastic form of water rationing this year [and] it has been deliberately timed to coincide with Easter weekend, when many residents [...] leave the city.
Source: BBC News, 10 Apr 2009
Posted in Mexico, Water distribution
Tagged leakage, Mexico City, urban water supply, water shortage
El Salvador‘s national aqueduct and sewerage authority Anda will invest US$4.4mn to carry out a nationwide program to reduce water losses in the system, president Sigisfredo Ochoa told [news agency] BNamericas. The financing was provided by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). “The main objective of the program is to minimize the percentage of unbilled water [currently 30%] across our entire potable water distribution system,” Ochoa said.
Ochoa said [the] high percentage of water losses [was due] to leaks in the network and [...] delinquent accounts [through] illegal connections. [...] Another important factor in the equation is Anda’s energy consumption, which uses water to produce electricity to operate the system, Ochoa said. This water cannot be billed as it is for internal operations.
Source: Renzo Dasso, BNamericas [subscription site], 23 Feb 2009
Posted in El Salvador, Financing, Water distribution
Tagged illegal water connections, JICA, leakage, unaccounted for water
Water supply for Mexico state (Edomex) capital Toluca is guaranteed only for another 5-10 years, daily El Universal reported.
The situation is aggravated by the fact that 400 public buildings, all the churches and 25,000 residents do not pay their water bills, with losses from leaks and theft adding up to 400 l/s. Use for some residents is 350 litres a day while the average is 170-200l.
Source: BNAmericas.com [subscription site], 8 Jan 2008
Business News Americas – Water & Waste
