Brazil, water and sanitation.
Enacted last April 5 law that obliges sanitation concessionaires to prevent water wastage. The norm also deals with the use of rainwater and so-called gray water, that one used in showers, bathroom sinks, tanks and washing machines.
And it establishes that the hydraulic networks and gray water and rainwater reservoirs must not communicate with the hydraulic network of drinking water. It also establishes that greywater and rainwater must undergo prior treatment before usage.
There was, however, a specific veto that will now be considered by the National Congress, the part that indicated that “rainwater and gray water are intended for less restrictive activities in terms of quality.”
According to the message that justifies the veto, the measure “would make the use of rainwater unfeasible for consumption in the Brazilian semi-arid region and would cause water insecurity for the inhabitants of the region, since there is a wide use of cisterns to collect rainwater and its use for various purposes, including use as drinking water”. In other words, it could stop methods of use already established in the Brazilian Northeast.
Click on the image below to learn more, article by the Câmara de Notícias Agency.
