All the capitals in Amazon are among the worst municipalities in basic sanitation, according to the Trata Brasil ranking

The annual investment destined to a portion of the citizens of the Amazon is equivalent to one third of what is invested for each inhabitant of the first 20 cities positioned in the Sanitation Ranking 2022 (Vilma Ribeiro/Voz das Comunidades/Reproduction)

May 19, 2022

07:05

Iury Lima – From Cenarium Magazine

VILHENA (RO) – Bad water quality and untreated sewage: this is the reality of a good part of the populations of 100 Brazilian cities, listed by the new ranking of the Trata Brasil Institute as the worst in basic sanitation in the entire country. This precariousness affects all the capital cities of the states that make up the Legal Amazon, two of them, Macapá and Porto Velho, being the first on the list. 

In the North Region, where most of the Amazon municipalities are located, potable water supply reaches a little more than half of the population: 58.9%, according to the executive president of Trata Brasil, Luana Siewert Pretto. She ponders, however, that “sewage is still a problem in some regions, since 100 million Brazilians do not have access to collection and treatment”. The sewage network coverage, in the North of Brazil, includes only 13% of the population, according to the study.

“The North Region is very different in relation to the basic sanitation indexes, being the worst in terms of indicators. This is quite problematic, when we have an opposite reality in other regions, such as the South, Southeast and Center-West, where we already have more than 90% of the population with access to water”, evaluated the specialist, who is also a civil engineer, in an interview to CENARIUM MAGAZINE.

Lack of access to drinking water, sewage collection and treatment impact, especially, the future of the poorest populations (Reproduction)

Worst of Amazon

Taking into account only the capital cities of the Amazon Region, Macapá (AP) opens the list as the one that invests the least in basic sanitation. There was even a change, but it was for the worse, since, in 2020, the city with more than half a million inhabitants occupies the 2nd position among the worst in Brazil. Now, it is in the most critical situation of the whole national territory. Porto Velho (RO) appears right below Macapá, followed by Rio Branco (AC).

CapitalPosition in the Legal Amazon (among the worst)Position in Brazil (among the worst)
Macapá (AP)
Porto Velho (RO)
Rio Branco (AC)
Belém (PA)
Manaus (AM)12º
São Luís (MA)16º
Cuiabá (MT)46º
Boa Vista (RR)70º
Palmas (TO)83º
(Source: Ranking of Sanitation 2022/Trata Brasil)

The situation is more favorable only for Palmas (Tocantins), the only Amazon capital to enter the list of the 20 Brazilian municipalities with the least bad sanitation situation.

Causes of the problem

Among the regional disparities, Siewert points out the lack of investment by the public machine as one of the main causes of such divergent indicators (and catastrophic when compared) from the North to the South of the country. 

The annual investment destined to a portion of the citizens of the Amazon, through the municipalities, is equivalent to one third of what is invested for each inhabitant of the first 20 cities positioned in the Sanitation Ranking 2022, therefore, the best in quality. “There, the average investment is R$135 per year for each person. In the 20 worst, which are generally those located in the North Region and in the Amazon [9 municipalities], the average investment is R$ 48 per year, per inhabitant,” detailed Trata Brasil’s executive president.

For Luana Siewert Pretto, executive president of Trata Brasil, municipal managers need to understand that investing in sanitation is investing in health, human and regional economic development (Iury Lima/CENARIUM)

This lack of investments, in the expert’s evaluation, has its origin in the absence of a well-structured public policy and of municipal sanitation plans that establish goals in a way that they can be monitored and fulfilled. 

“This plan has to be foreseen in the concession contracts; the regulatory agency has to properly supervise these contracts and monitor the evolution of the metrics. Therefore, it is very important that each mayor knows if the contract is regular, if there will be money for the necessary investments, aiming to guarantee universalization, and that the municipal managers understand the importance of this service in the development of an entire region: health, quality of life, and also economic development with access to opportunities for those who live there,” reinforced Siewert Pretto. 

Diseases caused by poor sanitation took more than 270,000 people to hospitals in 2020 (Reproduction/Agência Brasil)

Lack of access impacts human development

In 2020, according to another study published by Trata Brasil, 273,000 people were hospitalized due to waterborne diseases, because of poor sanitation, such as cholera, malaria, leptospirosis, schistosomiasis and diarrhea. However, the health risks of not consuming treated water, in this case due to the lack of access, and of living in places with open sewage go far beyond: they compromise the future, especially of the poorest populations.

“There is a study that correlates the ENEM score with the lack of access to water. Imagine how important the score of this exam is for an adolescent to get a place in a university. And if there is this direct relationship, it means that this ends up jeopardizing the next step in the professional life of this young person,” lamented the specialist.

Another sad reality indicated by the institute is the condition imposed on 2.5 million women who live in houses without bathrooms. “In this condition, without access to water, without access to sewage collection and treatment, naturally, this person will get sicker, will lose, even, productivity at work,” added Luana Siewert.

“It is usually the woman, but it can be the man, too, who may need to walk, say, 30 minutes to fetch water for his family (…) This harms all the development in that region, both because of the person’s absence from work or from studies, and because of the diseases, the time the person will lose having to perform domestic activities that he wouldn’t need to do if there was water in the tap at home or sewage collection and treatment at his doorstep. We need to understand that inequality occurs due to the lack of incentive and investment,” She concluded.