The August results show Matosinhos as one of the municipalities with the lowest water losses in the public supply network in Portugal entering the very restricted group of municipalities where unbilled water does not exceed 10%. The efficiency of the INDAQUA Matosinhos operation ensured losses, in the last 12 months, of only 10.8%, 2.4 percentage points less than in the previous year
In the last year with data released by the water sector regulator (2020), the annual volume of losses in Matosinhos' supply networks was 12.1% - the seventh lowest in the country and the fourth best in the Porto Metropolitan Area. Since then, the value that was already a reference has progressively improved, allowing a minimum loss of 10.8% to be reached in August 2022.
The value achieved in August in Matosinhos, when compared with the latest available data from the regulator, places the municipality in the sixth best result at a national level.
The volume of losses in this municipality is currently at a great distance from the 37% registered in 2008, the year INDAQUA Matosinhos started its activity. The difference between this value (37%) and the one registered now (10.8%) is equivalent to a saving of water sufficient to supply this municipality for 6 months.
"The control of these losses is done in real time, with constant adjustments that allow us to consecutively improve the efficiency of the operations," explains Tiago Fragata, General Director of INDAQUA Matosinhos. "We cannot only ask consumers to reduce their consumption in order to deal with the drought. It is essential that all supply management entities also assume their responsibility in the protection of this essential good, controlling the waste that occurs in the networks of their territories," he argues.
"The work carried out in Matosinhos focusing on the minimization of water losses in the network is a continuous work, initiated several years ago, and which places Matosinhos in the ranking of municipalities with the best indicators in this parameter. The scarcity of water in Portugal, as a result of the adverse weather conditions that have been observed, has put the country on alert and this issue is increasingly relevant in the lives of the population. The efficiency of our network and the very low values of water losses make us very proud of the competent work that has been done, but above all, they leave us with the feeling that we are fulfilling our obligation to the community and to the country", says Luísa Salgueiro, Mayor of Matosinhos.
In Portugal, the average percentage of losses in 2020 was 28.7%, equivalent to more than 236 million cubic metres of water per year. Contrary to the trend, the municipal concessions operated by INDAQUA in that year (Fafe, Matosinhos, Oliveira de Azeméis, Santa Maria da Feira, Santo Tirso, Trofa, Vila do Conde) recorded an average of only 13.9%.
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