The Seixal Municipal Chamber confirmed today that it is ready to temporarily hand over one of its water extraction boreholes to help bolster the drinking water supply in the neighboring municipality of Almada.
In a statement sent to Lusa, the Seixal municipality explained that it expedited the completion of a borehole already under construction—originally intended to reinforce the water supply in the parish of Corroios, which borders Almada—before evaluating if it could share the resource without compromising water access for its own residents.
“After ensuring that our installed capacity and existing reserves could meet the current needs of Seixal’s residents, the Municipal Chamber informed the president of Almada’s SMAS [Municipal Water and Sanitation Services] that it was ready to temporarily cede one of its boreholes in Corroios to support the population of Almada,” the statement read.
Local officials detailed that the borehole sits just 25 meters from a pipeline belonging to Almada’s distribution network, meaning the physical connection can be completed quickly to fast-track water delivery to Almada’s residents.
Read more: Portugal: complaints against PSP and GNR conduct increased by 60%
While emphasizing its solidarity with the dramatic situation unfolding in the neighboring municipality, Seixal stressed that it first conducted a rigorous technical evaluation. This review was critical given Seixal’s own population growth, which is rapidly approaching 200,000 residents and driving up local water demand.
To meet this growth, Seixal is investing heavily in upgrading its water and sanitation infrastructure. The municipality’s current public water network relies on 28 underground extraction points, six distribution centers, seven elevated reservoirs, and eight ground-level reservoirs.
Almada has faced consecutive water supply disruptions since the beginning of the month, which hit the coastal area of Costa da Caparica particularly hard and led the local government to declare a state of alert. To manage the crisis, Almada’s municipal authorities have already implemented overnight water shutdowns in specific areas between 10:00 PM and 6:00 AM, alongside a strict ban on using public tap water for non-essential or non-domestic purposes.
