Almada's water reserves rise to 40%, opening possibility to reduce supply cuts

The municipal water and sanitation service (SMAS) reported that average water reserves in the Almada municipality reached 40% on Saturday, placing the area in the yellow monitoring level (30‑50%). This level permits an assessment and possible reduction in the number of hours of water supply cuts that have been in place since early July, when successive outages hit the coastal district of Costa da Caparica and the council declared a state of alert.

SMAS calculates the average reserve from storage levels of the Alto do Índio, Sobreda, Raposo, Lazarim, Trafaria, Vale Cavala and Pragal reservoirs. The five‑level scale defines red (<20%), orange (20‑30%), yellow (30‑50%), green (50‑75%) and blue (>75%). While red triggers maximum restrictions, yellow allows evaluation of the situation and potential easing of cuts.

To support vulnerable institutions, SMAS distributed 1,000‑liter water tanks, refilled by tankers, and installed two new boreholes that inject an additional 120 m³ of water per hour into the public network. In recent inspections, the service identified several points of significant water loss and irregular connections, which were immediately sealed after excavation and drainage works.

A later update on 18 July showed reserves climbing to 46%, still within the yellow band, and SMAS launched an online dashboard to monitor reserve levels in real time.