Brazil: in Rio de Janeiro, running water contaminated and prone to cuts

Text by: Sarah Cozzolino Follow

In Rio de Janeiro, running water has been contaminated for a month. The pollution of the country's largest wastewater treatment plant is believed to be due to a substance produced by an alga - to which is now added new contamination, this time by a chemical detergent. This Tuesday, Cedae, a public water management company, cut supply to 67 districts of Rio and six cities in its suburbs. The inhabitants took to the streets to express their fed up.

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From our correspondent in Rio de Janeiro,

" We pay to drink the sewer water!" “, Indignant the cariocas, the inhabitants of Rio, in front of the central station of the city. The taste and smell of mud is sometimes so strong that it is noticeable in rice or coffee. A week ago, Andreia started to have symptoms of gastroenteritis. " I was infected with bacteria and I was in the hospital, " she says. I was not told anything but I was told that it could come from the water I drink. "

Street vendor, Andreia cannot afford mineral water and must drink tap water. But since this Tuesday, it is dry. " In addition to having very dirty water, we are now cutting it!" And if we don't live in a building with an emergency tank, we're screwed up. So we have no more water. "

The protesters point to the responsibility of the Rio state government, which has still not resolved the problem despite the promises. For Dario, the governor manipulates public opinion from the start. " In the media, there is talk of an accident, but I think it is a sabotage on the part of the government [of the state]. The proof, right after the fact, the government started to have a speech for the privatization of the water agency. "

For the moment, buying mineral water every day at the supermarket is a real mission. And the situation is likely to worsen with the carnival and its two million tourists expected in the coming weeks.

► Read also: In Bulgaria, a water crisis leads to a political crisis

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