WATER LOSS MANAGEMENT, INTERVENING FACTORS IN BAHIA ACCORDING TO TYPE OF SERVICE PROVIDERS

In Brazil, water losses in public supply systems are still a challenge, with the national average (~ 34%) being much higher than countries like Japan or Germany, which have reduced their rates close to 10%. Despite the importance of the topic, studies that investigated the causes of losses in different types of service providers are still incipient. Thus, this article aims to discuss the factors that have influenced water losses in service providers in Bahia. The study presents a scenario of water losses and develops an investigation in four municipalities, two are served by municipal authorities and two by the state concessionaire Embasa. The investigation involved the analysis of selected indicators and the application of questionnaires with technicians and managers. In 2018, the average distribution loss index reached 27%, below the national average. In this study, it was found that the water supply systems operated by Embasa performed better, especially regarding water losses, macro-measurement, hydrometering and micro-measurement. The municipalities presented difficulties with a performance between unsatisfactory and very unsatisfactory, with emphasis on micro-measurement gauging (average score1.0), water loss policies (1.0), partnerships (0.8), team incentives (1.1), planning (1.2) and new technologies (0.9). It was found that the investments made by Embasa, its planning and the incentives of financing agents certainly contributed to its performance. Conversely, public policies and the basic sanitation financing model have made it difficult for municipalities to access resources, contributing to their weaknesses.