The Portuguese Large Families Association (APFN) has released for the first time a national comparative study of the three basic household utilities – Water supply, Sewerage and Waste disposal – confirming that price differences for the same consumption can amount to more
than €1,500/year.
By The Portuguese Large Families Association
In the Comparative Study of the Water supply, Sewerage and Waste disposal Tariffs in mainland Portugal and the Islands, the APFN reports a generalized increase in prices and an increase in the injustices in the country in comparative terms, due to the worsening discrepancies in tariffs both in relation to larger families and in regional terms, even within the same district. In Portugal, most water supply tariffs are tiered in order to penalize waste, but do not take into account the number of people in the household, heavily penalizing large families.
Larger families pay much more for the same glass of water than smaller families and do not waste it. The average variable water tariff is 0.53 €/m3 for a 1-person household, while for a 10-person household with the same per capita consumption this figure rises to 1.10 €/m3. The Sewerage service also penalizes larger families: as the number of people in the same house increases, the more you pay per cubic meter, on average, for wastewater treatment, with prices varying between 0.42 and 0.69 €/m3.
The average variable tariff for Waste disposal is relatively constant in Portugal, however there are municipalities that penalize larger families considerably. For example, in Redondo (Alentejo) a single person pays 0.15 €/m3 for this service, while if living in a house of 10 people would pay 0.59 €/m3.
In an analysis of non-neighboring portuguese municipalities, the total annual Water supply bill registers differences of more than €1543/year for the same consumption. For example, if a family of 10 lives in Lajes das Flores, in the Azores, they pay 53.52 €/year, but if they live in the municipality of Tábua, Santa Comba Dão or Mortágua the figure is 1596.67 €/year.
Also, the total of Sewerage bill can show a discrepancy of more than €987/year for the same consumption. Take the case of a family of 10 living in Mortágua (40.22 €/year) versus one living in Covilhã (1027.31 €/year).
The APFN study identifies variations in the amounts charged for Waste disposal in Portugal that can make the total bill differ by more than 406 €/year for the same consumption. In Sever do Vouga, a family of 10 pays 17.20 €/year, while in Tavira the same household pays 423.75 €/year for the same service.
The APFN argues that the per capita consumption of each household should be considered, taking into account descendants, ascendants and all those who live there permanently, and not the total consumption, so that the same standard of per capita consumption pattern corresponds to an identical final per capita cost.