Some 1.8 million people from Montevideo and the metropolitan area They run the risk of not having drinking water due to the worst drought suffered by Uruguay since the beginning of its records, 74 years ago, according to official data.
The Paso Severino reservoir is the main freshwater reserve for the area, which the state-owned company Obras Sanitarias del Estado (OSE) makes drinkable and pumps into the network. without precipitation, there is only water left for about 18 days, OSE president Raúl Montero warned on Monday, according to AFP. “The outlook is pretty tough,” he added.
As of April 26, the OSE decided to add water from downstream of the Santa Lucía River, which is brackish due to its proximity to the Río de la Plata estuary. Since then, OSE water had levels of up to 440mg/l of sodium and 720mg/l of chloride, well above current regulations, which establish a limit of 200mg/l and 250mg/l, respectively.
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“Before I drank from the faucet and it didn’t taste bad. Not even thinking anymore,” María Esther Fernández, a 72-year-old retiree, told AFP while buying bottled water at a Montevideo supermarket.
Fernández now washes the vegetables and cooks with mineral water, as does Wilson Moreira, a 65-year-old public employee who stopped preparing the traditional mate with water from the tap.
Although the authorities assure that the water “is safe”, recommend taking no more than a liter daily if you have high blood pressure. And they advise people with chronic kidney disease, heart failure, cirrhosis and pregnant women to avoid it.
“In adults aged 25 to 64 years, 37% of Uruguayans are hypertensive, and only a third know it,” the Uruguayan Honorary Commission for Cardiovascular Health warned on Twitter.
The impact is also felt in the pocket: a 6.25 liter drum of water costs 130 pesos (about 3.4 dollars). “It’s the cost and it’s the sacrifice of carrying it. But I am hypertensive and underwent heart surgery, I have no other choice”said María Cejas, 83. Her husband is admitted to a public hospital and on Wednesday they began to give him a liter of bottled water daily.
The Association of Supermarkets of Uruguay said that the sale of bottled water tripled, but assured that there is no fear of shortages.
Uruguayan government measures
The Uruguayan government announced on Tuesday that a temporary dam will be built to guarantee the stability of Paso Severino.
It also provides purchase a portable desalination plant and expedite pipe repairs, with the aim of avoiding losses that in some areas of the country reach 50%, reported AFP.
“The supply will be maintained under current conditions until the rains come,” promised the secretary of the Presidency, Álvaro Delgado.
The probability of rain until the end of May is less than 50%, according to estimates by the Uruguayan Institute of Meteorology. For the vulnerable and low-income population, both Both the national and municipal governments distribute bottled water.
LM
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