For almost two weeks, around 150,000 people have been using water in the capital of Rio Grande do Sul, according to the Municipal Department of Water and Sewage (Dmae). The forecast is that this Wednesday (15), supply will resume in the city.
The resumption of supply, after the floods that hit the city, depends on the maintenance operation of the Raw Water Pumping Station (Ebab) Moinhos de Vento, which accounts for 21 neighborhoods in Porto Alegre and stopped operating on May 2nd, this month, due to the flooding of Guaíba.
The engine at this station operated for 30 minutes and burned out on Monday afternoon (12). Dmae teams are replacing the equipment this Tuesday (14). “We are in the Moinhos de Vento system doing maintenance and trying to start the engines to reactivate”, said Maurício Loss, general director of Dmae to CNN . The new 2.3 ton engine installed on site.
Another four stations are operating at a capacity reduced to 70%: São João Menino de Deus, Tristeza and Belém Novo. The Ilha Pintada station is out of operation and is not expected to return — the system was completely destroyed by the rains and left five islands without supply.
The nine Treatment Plants (ETEs) are also not operating due to heavy rains. Among the 23 houses at the Stormwater Pumping Station (Ebap), which help with urban drainage, eight are in operation and two are not functioning. They were flooded and had to be turned off due to the risk of electric shock.
200 thousand properties out of supply in 15 cities
As of Tuesday morning (14), water shortages affect 200,000 properties in 15 cities in Rio Grande do Sul, according to Corsan, Companhia Riograndense de Saneamento. In the metropolitan region, 132 thousand properties remain without water in Canoas, Esteio and Sapucaia do Sul.
In a statement, the concessionaire informed that last weekend's heavy rains had significant impacts on the work to restore water supply systems, mainly in the municipalities of the Taquari and Caí valleys, due to the rise in river levels.
Source: CNN Brasil
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