The Minister of the Environment and Climate Action, Duarte Cordeiro, defended this Tuesday that it is necessary to accelerate the capacity to supply wastewater, and considered that one of the country’s greatest challenges is to improve “water governance.”
Remembering that this is the second worst year of drought since 1931Warning for a future with less water, Duarte Cordeiro insisted on the need to save water in all sectors, in a context in which it is estimated that it will start to rain 15% less, possibly 25% less, at the end of the century. .
Speaking at the end of an initiative in Lisbon called “We have water”, dedicated to innovation in the sector and organized by “Águas do Tejo Atlântico”, Duarte Cordeiro stressed that more and more water must be reused and added: “improving the governance of this resource is one of our greatest challenges”.
It is necessary, he said, to reduce losses, reduce consumption, make better use of catchments and accelerate reuse, and also invest in desalination in some parts of the country.
Of the 600 million cubic meters of water consumed per year, a part needs to be reused, said Duarte Cordeiro, who then symbolically presided over the launch of a new Vira beer (Vira Stout) that is produced with recycled water, a project of “Tejo Atlântico” that has already been awarded.
Specialists from the sector participated in the initiative and a study was discussed that indicates that the Portuguese are very concerned about the lack of water (four out of five) and the vast majority consider it the first necessity, and the majority of people also think that there is an excessive and abusive consumption of water.
Despite being sensitive to the problem of water scarcity, only one in three Portuguese adopts a rational behavior in the use of water, according to the study.
Source: Observadora
