WATER WASTED IN BRAZIL

More than 6.5 billion cubic meters of treated water were wasted in Brazil in 2013, which amounts to a financial loss of R$8.015 billion ("reais") (=U$2.5 billion) a year, as pointed out by the Brazilian Institute "Trata Brasil". Such losses correspond to about 80% water and sewer investments carried out in 2013, according to the entity.

The volume of treated water not counted by the country's sanitation companies corresponds to 39.1% of the total produced in the country. The Brazil waste water that could fill 6.5 times the Cantareira System, which supplies the greater São Paulo, without considering the technical reserves.

The study of "Trata Brasil" uses the latest data of the Ministry of Cities on water losses in Brazil, which are from 2013. Billing losses index assesses how much of the water produced by the supply system was not billed by the companies responsible. So much water is wasted in the pipe, or used irregularly through illegal connections and fraud – and that, therefore, it is not charged.

Graphs below show:

1) Total amount of water produced/supplied and percentage of water not paid to the companies responsible.

2) Total amount of water wasted (1 American gallon = 3.7854 liter): 4,702,277,170 gallons/day