SMAS apply for European funds to strengthen water in Almada

Os Almada Municipalized Water and Sanitation Services (SMAS) announced today that they submitted applications to the Sustainable 2030 programme, within the framework of Portugal 2030, in an overall investment of more than EUR 4.5 million.

In a statement by SMAS Almada, it explains that the application aims to strengthen the capacity and resilience of the high water supply system, through the modernisation of infrastructure, the creation of new water sources, the increase in reserve capacity and the requalification of strategic pipelines.

“ With these applications, the SMAS of Almada seek to mobilise European funding to modernise water supply services, strengthen water security in the municipality and promote a more efficient and sustainable management of this essential resource,” they explain that they are now awaiting a decision on the allocation of funding.

The projects for which the SMAS applied cover three areas of supply of the municipality, namely Almada and Cacilhas, Costa da Caparica, Surda and surrounding area and Charneca de Caparica and Aroeira.

According to the SMAS, in the area of Almada and Cacilhas the planned project is to build a new underground capture near Corroios sapal while in the Costa da Caparica, Sobrada and surrounding areas the project is to build two new holes of capture, expansion of the Lazarim reservoir, renewal of pipelines and modernization of disinfection systems.

In the area of Charneca de Caparica and Aroeira, the SMAS advance, the objective is the modernization of disinfection and telemanagement equipment and the recovery of the reservoir of the Aroeira estate.

“ Overall, interventions will allow diversifying the sources of water, increasing storage capacity and improving operational efficiency, reinforcing the response of the municipal system to times of greater consumption, emergency situations and extreme climate phenomena”, the SMAS said. Soulada in communication.

In early July, the municipality of Almada, in the district of Setúbal, lived difficult times, with the water not reaching taps in various locations, having decreed the alert situation on July 8th, which remained until the end of August.

The problem led to protests by the population, to a request for clarifications from the Regulatory Authority of Water and Waste Services (ERSAR) and to the intervention of the Government, with the Minister of Environment visiting the territory.

In September the municipality signed an agreement with EPAL to study a solution that strengthens the resilience and security of the municipality's water supply system.

The solution to be studied with EPAL will be through surface distribution with a link between Lisbon and Almada, through pipelines, from an area near the 25th of April Bridge.

At the ceremony it was also announced by the Minister of the Environment, Maria da Graça Carvalho, that Almada and Seixal (neighbouring council) should also sign an agreement for the licensing of a water catchment hole, aiming at the short-term resolution of the supply problem of the municipality of Almada.

That agreement has not yet been signed.

In addition to these solutions the minister also announced that, it is under study, with four months to present a project, another, from Castelo de Bode Dam, in charge of the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA) and the ÁdP Group (Águas de Portugal).