Sao Paulo's Biggest Water-Supply System May Run Dry Within 45 Days
By Stephan Nielsen
The system that provides half the drinking water to South America’s largest city, Sao Paulo, will run dry in 45 days if there’s no rain, amid the biggest drought on record.
The Cantareira water system, which supplies 10 million people in the region, is at less than a quarter of capacity, Francisco Lahoz, executive secretary of water association Consorcio PCJ, said in a telephone interview today. Once it falls below 20 percent, Brazil’s biggest water utility Cia. de Saneamento Basico do Estado de Sao Paulo will face difficulties transferring water between reservoirs.
The drought is affecting operations at companies. Beer producer Ambev SA (ABEV) interrupted operations at a factory and paper maker Rigesa Celulose Papel e Embalagens Ltda. shifted some production elsewhere because there isn’t enough river water to supply their facilities, Lahoz said. Both sites operate in the state’s interior Campinas region, where the drought is having a greater impact on industry than in Sao Paulo city.
Most companies in the Campinas region “are in a state of alert,” he said.
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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-04/sao-paulo-biggest-water-supply-system-may-run-dry-within-45-days.html
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