The city of São Caetano do Sul, in Greater São Paulo, announced on Sunday (23/11) that it will adopt water rationing in the city at night. The measure is already in effect and will occur daily between 7pm and 5am.
According to the city council, the rationing is due to water scarcity in the capital region. The municipal administration stresses that the situation requires a joint effort, as waste control is considered an immediate civil commitment to mitigate the effects of drought.
Announcement from the City of São Caetano do Sul regarding water rationing in the city
According to the Sabesp publication, which analyzes water sources, the Cantarera system – the dam that supplies the municipality – on Monday (24/11) provided a level of 21.7% of useful volume.
Since August, Sabisa has taken preventive measures in other cities, in order to maintain water levels in reservoirs.
The water crisis was caused by low average rainfall in the region. In August, rainfall was less than a third of the historical average, which is about 30 mm in that region.
São Caetano was the only city in the region without a rotation because its supply is managed by Saesa, not Sabesp, which buys water wholesale from the state-owned company.
Sabesp has previously stated that it does not legalize there specifically because it does not do local distribution. However, the shortage of water upstream made this difference irrelevant, and the city began to adopt the same rotation as other ABC municipalities, which had already been under control measures since the privatization of SABISP in 2024.
The city of São Caetano also states that overcoming drought also depends on reducing the population’s consumption.
So far, São Caetano has maintained its position as the only city in the ABC region free of rotation. This was due to its special administrative structure: the municipality is not run directly by Sabesp, but by Saesa (municipal authority). The local system works by purchasing water in bulk provided by the state-owned company, with a total monthly volume of about 1.43 million cubic metres.
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Previously, Sabesp had announced that it did not manage the city’s internal distribution, and that it did not implement on-site rationing. However, the scarcity of the source of production makes this distinction irrelevant due to the need to save resources.
With this, São Caetano is on par with its neighbors Santo Andre, São Bernardo, Diadema, Mão, Ribeirão Pires and Rio Grande da Serra, which are already suffering from water rationing. In these cities, Sabesp has operated as a direct franchisee since the company’s privatization in 2024, and control measures were already a reality or were under prior notice.
The City of São Caetano also says that in case of doubts, citizens can contact Saesa at 2181-1825 / 2181-1885