Water Crisis Delays Start of School in Rio’s Municipal Network

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Rio de Janeiro City Hall decided to defer the start of the school year in the municipal network due to the suspension of operations at the Guandu water treatment plant, which occurred on Monday, February 3rd, after the detection of detergents in the water.

Classes should have restarted on Wednesday, February 5th, but students are not expected to return to class before Thursday, February 6th.

According to the Municipal Health Secretariat, the decision was taken as many of the more than 1,500 municipal schools are out of running water.

The disruption in supply was announced in the late afternoon as a preventive measure following the detection of a high concentration of detergents in the Guandu System, which supplies water to approximately nine million people in the metropolitan region of Rio – 70 percent of the area’s population.

Operations were resumed at around 9 AM on Tuesday, February 4th, but CEDAE (State Water and Sewage Company) set a 72-hour deadline for the supply to be completely restored. Faced with the water shortage, the AGENERSA (the agency that regulates the state’s energy and sanitation services) decided to prioritize the supply – first and foremost, hospitals and health units, schools, day care centers, elderly treatment facilities, prisons and “other sensitive areas” should be served.

If required CEDAE should use tank trucks, the agency says. The company will also be required to provide daily reports on the supply and to carry out network operations to reorganize the population’s supply.

The metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro has been experiencing water quality issues for nearly a month, water comes out of the taps with an earthy taste and odor that is the result of the presence of geosmine in the reservoir. The problem led to the resignation of Marcos Chimelli, director of sanitation and large production at the state-owned company, and is the target of Civil Police investigations. On Tuesday, officials were at CEDAE to investigate the presence of the detergent in the system.

In partnership with INEA (State Environment Institute), they collected water samples in an attempt to determine the origin of the product. Detective Josy Lima, however, said there is no estimated date for the final results of the tests.

The water crisis resulted in a major defeat at ALERJ (Rio de Janeiro Legislative Assembly) for Governor Wilson Witzel, who saw an appointment for the AGENERSA rejected.

The ALERJ Committee on Internal Rules and External Proposals assessed that the nominee, Bernardo Pegoraro, does not meet the minimum requirements for the position, since he has not shown he has ten years of experience in an area compatible with the duties of the position.