Ranking points to less than 4% of municipalities with advanced sanitation in the country

Six years after the legal framework for sanitation came into effect, only 94 municipalities are moving towards the universalization of water and sewage services in the country, according to a survey by Abes (Brazilian Association of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering).

The entity's new annual ranking shows that only 3.67% of the 2,558 municipalities surveyed reached the maximum category when evaluating five aspects: serving the population with a water supply network, serving a sewage collection network, treated sewage in relation to water consumed, coverage with household waste collection and adequate final disposal of solid urban waste.

Among the capitals, Curitiba (PR) presents the best performance and is the only one with enough points to enter the "towards universalization" category.

In the list of large cities, the best classifications are with Leme (SP), Balneário Camboriú (SC) and Santa Bárbara D'Oeste (SP).

Capitals in the North region - Belém (PA), Macapá (AP), Manaus (AM) and Porto Velho (RO) - recorded poor performance and show that they still advanced little after the legal framework.

Law 14,026, sanctioned in June 2020, requires coverage of 99% of water supply and 90% of sewage treatment by 2033.

"Universalization will not be achieved if the country only looks at part of the problem", says the national president of Abes, Marcel Sanches.

"Basic sanitation is an integrated system. Water, sewage, solid waste, drainage, urban planning and protection of water resources need to go together. It is this systemic vision that should guide public policies in the coming years."

* With information from Daniel Rittner

Source: CNN