It has become common for technicians from Cetesb (Environmental Company of the State of São Paulo) who analyze the water collected every week from Perequê beach, in Guarujá, to conclude that it is unsuitable for swimming.
This is what happened in 51 of the 52 measurements carried out between November 2024 and October this year, a scenario that has also been repeated in previous years. Since 2020, when measures were suspended on the beach between March and November due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the beach was only suitable for swimming in nine weeks.
But it is not the only one in these conditions on the coast of São Paulo, underlines the annual survey carried out by Leaf on swimming conditions on Brazilian beaches.
In total, of the 175 points monitored by Cetesb, most of them weekly, 16 were classified as bad, that is to say unsuitable for swimming for more than 50% of the time.
There are cases in Ubatuba and Praia Grande where, like in Perequê, the beaches have deteriorated in more than 40 weeks, and the red flag has become part of the scenario in these places.
Three points in Ubatuba, the city with the most locations measured by the São Paulo environmental agency (35), are in these conditions.
Itaguá beach is the subject of weekly analyzes on two points, both terrible during the investigation period. In front of number 1,724 of Avenida Leovegildo, 51 of the 52 measurements indicated that the beach was not suitable and, in front of number 240, in 47 weeks the place was bad.
At the measurement point at the mouth of the Itamambuca River, 40 of the 52 measurements showed that the place was not suitable for bathers.
In Praia Grande, in Baixada Santista, Vila Tupi became unusable in 44 weeks, and Praia da Aviação, in 38.
The head of the coastal waters sector of Cetesb, Cláudia Lamparelli, said that Perequê had already been the subject of discussions with the municipality to try to identify the sources of sludge production.
“The municipality is already working on it, analyzing several rivers that arrive there, the Peixe river, the Perequê river, to see where it comes from. We have discussed with them to try to see where this contamination comes from,” he said.
The beach has had a terrible rating since 2016, in all annual surveys carried out by Leaf. The difference between Perequê, in Guarujá, and Itaguá, in Ubatuba—both unsuitable in 51 of the 52 measures of the year—is that the second, in previous years, was clean in more weeks.
For a beach to be rated good, it must be suitable for swimming in 100% of measurements. To be considered regular, it may be inappropriate in up to 25% of measurements. In other words, if among the 52 annual measurements it does not fit in just one week, it will be considered regular.
To be classified as poor, 26% to 50% of measures must be inadequate. Beyond that, it’s considered terrible.
The city of Guarujá says it is investing in partnerships with Sabesp and entities to implement initiatives to improve water quality, sanitation and coastal cleaning.
One example is the “Mar sem Lixo” program, developed with the state government, which pays artisanal fishermen based on the presentation of waste brought in by trawls. In February, a joint effort removed about six tons of waste from the mangroves of the Peixe River, which flows into the Perequê.
The town hall also specifies that “the natural morphology of the bay, added to the flow of tides and the mouths of rivers and canals, favors the accumulation of pollutants near the strip of sand”.
According to the administration, the expansion of basic sanitation is also underway, with work planned to install 42.6 km of sewerage network in the Perequê and Jardim Umuarama neighborhoods.
Biologist, researcher and fisherman Jorge Luís dos Santos, 55, said the situation worsens during rainy periods and high season. “The red flag is our stigma (…) And it’s actually the wastewater that is the cause. The number of fecal coliforms.”
POPULATION CONCENTRATION
The coast of São Paulo is divided into three regions: the north, Baixada Santista and the south. The Baixada concentrates around 82% of the inhabitants, according to data from the IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), while the north coast is home to 16% of the inhabitants. The remaining 2% are on the south coast.
In Santos, the improvement seen in the 2024 survey – when for the first time since 2016 two beaches became regular, after eight years classified as poor and very poor – did not continue this year.
While last year five points were classified as poor and two as regular, this year six points were poor and one was considered terrible.
The beaches of Aparecida and Embaré, which were regular, are now in poor condition, alongside Gonzaga, Ponta da Praia and José Menino (with two measuring points). Boqueirão, who was bad, is now terrible.
The head of Cetesb says that this year’s scenario is similar to the city’s history, and that last year was different from last year due to the lack of rain.
Despite the worsening compared to the previous year, this is a less serious scenario than that of 2022 – where all seven places were classified as terrible – and 2023, when there were four places considered terrible.
According to the City of Santos, urban solid waste on beaches is combated through actions such as the Detecta program, implemented since 2023 with Sabesp, and the city carries out actions that include environmental education, elimination of plastics from public administration, desilting of the Bugres River and identification of the main sources of waste that reach the sea.
“The objective is to expand sanitation actions, identify irregular connections and analyze the water in the city’s canals (…) The work includes testing a barrier with aquatic plants to reduce the organic load.”
There is also the construction of four pumping stations in the northwest area for macrodrainage (large-scale stormwater management) and elimination of flood points. The first contract was signed in October. Work is about to start – with a completion time of 42 months.
Regarding the Ubatuba scenario, Cetesb says that Itaguá beach is a little more complex because it has several rivers that drain a large area. According to the head of the environmental agency, specific studies are needed in the rivers that flow into the beach to try to determine where the source of contamination comes from.
RISKS
Swimming in areas considered unsuitable for swimming can lead to health problems, including gastrointestinal or skin diseases, such as fungal infections. Other sources of contamination, which are not taken into account in the analysis, could for example be the presence of waste in beach sand – or even environmental disasters such as the oil spill which hit the northeast coast in 2019.
In addition to not entering the water when it is dangerous, experts advise avoiding swimming in the sea after heavy rain and not swimming in places open to the sea.
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