Between 2000 and 2008, the percentage of Brazilian municipalities that had water supply network in at least one district increased from 97.9% to 99.4%...

 

Between 2000 and 2008, the percentage of Brazilian municipalities that had water supply network in at least one district increased from 97.9% to 99.4%; solid waste management (that includes waste collection and disposal, besides public cleaning) became present in all municipalities in 2008, compared to the 99.4% in 2000; and rainwater management (urban drainage), which existed in 78.6% of the municipalities in 2000, reached 94.5% in 2008. In these eight years, the only sanitation service that did not get close to 100% in the municipalities was the sewage collection network, present in 52.2% of the municipalities in 2000 and changed to 55.2% in 2008. However, in those municipalities that had the service, there was, in the same period, an increase in those that recorded enlargement or improvement in the sewerage system, from 58% to 79.9% of total, and of the households covered by the service, from 33.5% to 44%. In 2008, 68.8% of the collected sewage was treated – a percentage much superior to the 35.3% of 2000 –, although less than a third of the municipalities (28.5%) had the treatment, with considerable regional differences in this percentage, which reached 78.4% of the municipalities in the state of São Paulo and 1.4% in Maranhão.

 

In eight years, the percentage of municipalities that discharged their wastes in the open air fell from 72.3% to 50.8%, whereas those that used landfills grew from 17.3% to 27.7%. At the same time, the number of waste sorting programs doubled, changing from 451 in 2000 to 994 in 2008, concentrating, especially, in the South and Southeast regions, where, respectively, 46% and 32.4% of the municipalities informed to have waste sorting in all districts. These are some of the highlights of the National Survey of Basic Sanitation (PNSB) 2008, which investigates services of water supply, sewerage, rain water management and solid waste management, having as information sources the formal entities (with Employer Identification Number) providers of these services in all Brazilian municipalities. These entities comprise public or private institutions, such as autonomous public corporations, public companies, mixed economy companies, public consortiums, private companies, foundations, associations, etc. The survey was conducted in partnership with the Ministry of Cities, and counted on the participation of researchers of Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz) and technicians specialized in the area.

 

According to PNSB 2008, in only 17% of the municipalities water was supplied exclusively by City Halls. This service was provided mostly by other entities (58.2%) or in a combined form (24.7%). The situation was the opposite when it came to sewage collection: in 55.6% of the municipalities, only City Halls rendered the service, and in 41.6% it was the responsibility of another entity. Rain water management was performed almost exclusively by City Halls (98.6%). Most City Halls provided solid waste management exclusively (59.1%), whereas in 31.2% of the them the service was also provided by other entities.

 

As to the existence of legal instruments to regulate the basic sanitation service, it was verified that water supply was regulated in 32.5% of the municipalities; sewerage, in 18.4%; and rain water management, in 18%.

 

 

 

In 2008, 5,531 (99.4%) of the 5,564 Brazilian municipalities had water supplied by general network, even if in only part of the municipality. Between 1989 and 2008, the coverage of this service grew 3.5%, the greatest increase being in the North region (from 86.9% to 98.4% of the municipalities). Since 2000, The Southeast has been the only region with all municipalities supplied by water network in at least one district.

 

In 33 municipalities distributed in nine states there was no water supply network, what affected around 320 thousand people. This situation has been systematically decreasing in the country: in 1989 there were 180 municipalities without water supply; in 2000, 116. Among the 33 municipalities without water network in 2008, 21 were in the Northeast region, with highlights being the states of Paraíba (11 municipalities) and Piauí (five), and seven were in the North region, with highlight being the state of Rondônia (four municipalities).

 

Besides these 33 municipalities without water supply network in any district, other 794 cities had at least one district where there was no network, what amounted to 827 municipalities (14.9% of total) in which water was supplied through alternative forms, such as water tank trucks and private water wells. The Northeast had the highest percentage of municipalities with other forms of supply (30.1%), with the highest percentages among the states occurring in Piauí (58.3%), Ceará (35.9%) and Maranhão (30.4%).

 

6.6% of the municipalities supply untreated water

 

In 2008, most municipalities (87.2%) distributed totally treated water. In 6.2% of the municipalities the distributed water was just partially treated, and in 6.6% water suffered no treatment. In 2000, the municipalities where there was no water treatment at all represented 18.1% of total. The region with the highest percentage of municipalities distributing water with no treatment in 2008 was the North (20.8%), where Pará (40%) and Amazonas (38.7%) had the highest percentages. Next came the Northeast (7.9%), with highlights being Piauí (24.3%) and Maranhão (21.8%).

 

Among the municipalities that supplied untreated water, 99.7% had a population of up to 50 thousand inhabitants and demographic density lower than 80 thousand inhabitants by square meter. Water fluoridation to prevent tooth cavities was accomplished in 3,351 municipalities (60.6% of total).

 

In 2008, water rationing occurred in 1,296 municipalities (23.4%), principally in the Northeast (40.5%) and North (24.9%) regions. In the Northeast, attention is drawn by the group of municipalities in Pernambuco (77.3%), Ceará (48.9%) and Rio Grande do Norte (46.7%); in the North, those of Amazonas (43.5%) and Pará (41.4%). The reasons pointed by municipalities were draught (50.5%), shortage of water in the sources (39.7%), deficient production (34.5%) and deficient distribution (29.2%).

 

Less than a third of the municipalities have laws to protect water sources

 

In 1,749 municipalities there was municipal legislation to protect water sources (those used for supply) in 2008. Among the 3,141 municipalities (56.4% of total) that have superficial water capture, 83.2% informed some protection: isolation with fence (85.7%), preservation of vegetation (54.3%) and prohibition of disposals (44.6%). Less than half (45.1%) of Brazilian municipalities had legislation demanding approval and implantation of water supply system in new land parcel lings.

 

Households served by water network increased 30.8% between 2000 and 2008

 

The number of municipalities served by water network increased 30.8%, from 34.6 million in 2000 to 45.3 million in 2008, according to PNSB. The highest growth occurred in the Northeast (39.2%) and in the Central West (39.1%), and the lowest in the North (23.1%).

 

The 5,531 municipalities supplied by water network had more than 40 million connections, of which 84.2% counted on meters. In the last eight years, the use of water meters increased 30.8% in the country, with highlights being the North (54.2%) and Central West (53.1%). The lowest growth occurred in the Southeast (28.9%) and Northeast (38.8%). In the Southeast, the low growth was due to advances already made: the region has 92.5% of water connections with meters.

 

In 2008, 94% of the municipalities with a distribution network charged for the water supply service. The South region presented the lowest percentage of municipalities that made charges (0.7%), and the North, the highest (13.6%).

 

SANITARY SEWERAGE: Sewage collection was present in 55.2% of the municipalities

 

 

PNSB 2008 shows that 55.2% of the Brazilian municipalities had a sewerage service with collection network, three percentage points above the index verified in 2000 (52.2%). The best performances were given in the states of São Paulo (just one of the 645 municipalities did not have the service) and Espírito Santo (two of the 78 with no sewage collection). The main alternative solution adopted by the municipalities that had no sewerage collection network was the construction of septic tanks, which increased 7.4% in relation to the 2000 survey.

 

Only the South recorded a high percentage of municipalities with sewage collection network in 2008 (95.1%). In the other four regions, less than half of the municipalities had the service: Northeast (45.7%), South (39.7%), Central West (28.3%) and North (13.4%). Just eight federation units had more than half of the municipalities with collection network, with São Paulo (99.8%) and Piauí (4.5%) at the extremes.

 

Between 2000 and 2008, the advance in the percentage of municipalities with collection network was considerable in the North (from 7.1% in 2000 to 13.4% in 2008) and in the Central West (from 17.9% to 28.3%). In the regions with bigger number of municipalities, improvements were little significant: Southeast (from 92.9% in 2000 to 95.1% in 2008) and South (from 38.9% to 39.7%). In the Northeast, there was small variation in the recording of municipalities covered by the service (from 42.9% in 2000 to 45.7% in 2008).

 

The presence of a sewage collection network was stronger in municipalities of larger population. All those with more than 500 thousand inhabitants had this service, which was also present in more than 90% of the municipalities with population between 100 thousand and 500 thousand inhabitants. With coverage below national average were only the municipalities with less than 50 thousand inhabitants.

 

In the whole country, among the municipalities that had the service, the number of households with access to the sewage collection network had an increase of 39.5% in the period. The highest rises were recorded in the Northeast (64.7%) and in the North (89.9%). The percentage of households with access to the sewage collection network changed from 33.5% in 2000 to 44% in 2008. Just in the Southeast more than half of the households (69.8%) had access to the general network, followed by the Central West (33.7%), South (30.2%), Northeast (22.4%) and North (3.8%) regions. The only federation units with more than half of the households served were the Federal District (86.3%), São Paulo (82.1%), and Minas Gerais (68.9%). Rio de Janeiro (49.2%) and Paraná (46.3%) were close to the 50% mark and above national average (44%). The other states had less than a third of the households served, with Amapá (3.5%), Pará (1.7%) and Rondônia (1.6%) presenting the lowest coverages.

 

In 2008, 79.9% of the municipalities enlarged or improved the sewerage system

 

From 2000 to 2008 the percentage of municipalities increased with sewage collection service that performed enlargements or improvements in the system or in part(s) of it. In 2008, 79.9% of them were enlarging or improving the service, against 58% in 2000. The increase occurred in almost all regions, with highlights being the Central West, whose enlargement or improvement rate changed from 50% of the municipalities in 2000 to 78% in 2008; and for the Northeast, from 47.6% to 73.1%. The exception was the North, whose percentage of enlargements and improvements decreased (from 53.1% to 48.3%). The highest percentages were found in the Southeast (85.4%), Central West (78%) and South (77.5%). In 2008, the system enlargement or improvement occurred principally in the collection network (88%) and in the building connections (78.6%).

 

Less than a third of the municipalities perform sewage treatment

 

Just 28.5% of the Brazilian municipalities with general network performed sewage treatment (at least one district of the municipality treated the collected sewage, even if part of it). Among the regions, the Southeast was the leader (48.4%), followed by the Central West (25.3%), South (24.1%), Northeast (19%) and North (7.6%). Except for the Federal District, in just three federation units more than half of the municipalities treated their sewage: São Paulo (78.4%), Espírito Santo (69.2%) and Rio de Janeiro (58.7%). The lowest percentages were recorded in Sergipe (9.3%), Amazonas (4.8%), Pará (4.2%), Rondônia (3.8%), Piauí (2.2%) and Maranhão (1.4%).

 

Although less than a third of the municipalities have sewage treatment, the volume treated represented 68.8% of the total collected in the country. There was considerable improvement in relation to 2000 and 1989, when the treatment percentage was, respectively, 35.3% and 19.9%. And in great producers such as the municipalities with more than 1 million inhabitants, the percentage of treated sewage was higher than 90%.

 

 

SOLID WASTE: Open dumps are still the final destination in half of the municipalities

 

 

Open dumps are still the final destination of solid waste in 50.8% of Brazilian municipalities, but this Picture suffered a marked change in the last 20 years: in 1989 they represented the final destination of solid waste in 88.2% of the municipalities. The Northeast (89.3%) and North (85.5%) regions recorded the largest proportions of municipalities that disposed their waste at open dumps, whereas the South (15.8%) and Southeast (18.7%) regions presented the smallest percentages. At the same time there was an expansion in waste destination to sanitary landfills, a more adequate solution, which changed from 17.3% of the municipalities to 27.7% in 2008.

 

In the whole country, approximately 26.8% of the municipalities that had solid waste management were aware of the presence of waste pickers in the disposal units of solid waste. The largest amount was in regions Central West and Northeast: 46% and 43%, respectively. The highlights were the municipalities of Mato Grosso do Sul (57.7% knew of the existence of waste pickers) and of Goiás (52.8%), in the Central West; and in the Northeast, the municipalities of Pernambuco (67%), Alagoas (64%) and Ceará (60%).

 

 

Number of waste sorting programs increased from 58 to 994 in 20 years

 

Solid waste sorting programs increased from 58 identified in 1989 to 451 in 2000, reaching 994 in 2008. The increase was observed especially in the South and Southeast regions, where respectively 46% and 32.4% of the municipalities informed to have waste sorting programs that covered the whole municipality.

 

The municipalities with waste sorting service separated mainly paper and/or corrugated fiberboard, plastic, glass and metal (ferrous and non-ferrous material), and the main buyers of these materials were recyclable material wholesalers (53.9%), recycling industries (19.4%), charitable entities (12.1%) and other entities (18.3%).

 

 

RAIN WATER: Disorderly occupation is one of the main causes of urban erosion

 

Erosion (weathering and transport of soil by rain) within city limit affected, in 2008, 27.3% of Brazilian municipalities with rain water management (5,256 in total). Among the main factors indicated as causes of this problem were geological and morphological conditions (47.8%) and the intense and disorderly soil occupation (46.4%).

 

Among the municipalities with informed rain water management, 48.7% declared to have had problems neither with flooding in the last five years, nor with drainage system blockage. In their turn, 27.4% informed a right opposite condition: 60.7% of them reported urban occupation in areas naturally prone to flood by water courses and 48.1% informed that there were irregular urban areas in low places naturally prone to flood. Irregular occupation was the main aggravating factor of flooding in regions North (50%) and Northeast (45.8%) and shared the same percentage (35.5%) with the obstruction of storm drains and paths in the Central West region. In the South and Southeast, the situation was the opposite, and the obstruction was the main factor (54.5% and 50.3%, respectively).

 

One out of three municipalities have endangered urban areas in need of special drainage

 

A group of 1,933 municipalities (34.7% of total) reported, in their city limits, endangered areas in need of special drainage. The municipalities declared that areas with no drainage infrastructure (62.6%) and low areas (depressions) prone to floods and proliferation of disease vectors (56.8%) were the most frequently found types and subject to risks in the city limit. In the Southeast, a significant percentage (56%) was attributed to slope areas (inclined plans at the edge of embankments) and hills subject to sliding, a geological and morphological feature of states in this region.