Quito surpassed its record for daily drinking water consumption, with an average of 250 liters per inhabitant, according to the Municipality

The Metropolitan Public Drinking Water and Sanitation Company (Epmaps) reported that the In the month of December 2021, excessive water consumption occurred in the city of Quito. Especially in Christmas and New Years holidays.

This was confirmed by Jaime Garzón, operations people from Epmaps, who pointed out that the areas with the highest consumption were the extreme south, the valley of Los Chillos and in the northwestern sector From the capital.

According to information from this metropolitan company, 200 liters per inhabitant are normally consumed every day.

In the month of December there was an average of 250 liters per inhabitant, daily. It even represented an additional 25% compared to December 2020.

Garzón explained that this phenomenon occurred due to a number of factors such as hot weather (especially in the last days of the year). He also noted that vacation season for workers and students allowed them to “take longer showers, people watered the plants, washed more clothes, the cars, among other triggers that promoted a accelerated consumption of vital fluid ”, argument.

According to the population projection of the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INEC) for the By 2020, the Quito canton had 2,781,641 inhabitants. If we multiply this by the 200 liters that each person consumes on average, we obtain the figure of 556’328,200 liters per day.

This means that in December 698’410,250 liters were consumed per day. In the whole month means 21,557´717,750 liters. This is equivalent to 6,387 Olympic swimming pools about.

“We have to be aware that water is a limited resource, We take from nature and transform it into drinkable, being a limited resource we must take care of it to the maximum by consuming just enough, not wasting it, ”added Garzón.

For the environmental lawyer Veronica Arias Cabanilla The consumption of water has been increasing gradually in Quito and in various areas of the country. “Ecuadorians are among those who consume the most water in all of Latin America ”, emphasized.

This according to Arias occurs because there has been no need for the vital fluid and by not experiencing a shortage, it has been consumed without limit. “The water saving campaigns have been few, I think that sometime between 2015 and 2019 there was a saving of water, but then there were no more awareness campaigns and these must be permanent to generate a habit in citizenship ”, he added.

From Epmaps they reported that they are developing new projects to increase the supply of water for Quito, However, so far they have insured the vital liquid until the year 2050. That is, the capital It would have no problems with the supply of drinking water for the next 28 years.

Regarding the options to generate greater control with water consumption, they pointed out that an increase in the value of the fare has not been taken into account. At the moment they have implemented projects of education in schools and colleges, in order for students to be educators in their homes on the importance of water preservation.

In addition, they issued some recommendations to avoid wasting water:

• Do not wash vehicles with the key constantly open.
• Take showers for moderate times (3 to 5 minutes).
• Do not water plants or gardens at noon (most evaporate, so they recommend that it be done in the first hours or at night).
• Turn off the tap while shaving or washing your mouth
• Defrost food in advance (do not leave under running water).
• Verify the leakage of pipes in their homes and report to Epmaps if there is one.

The end of the year was reported water cuts in some sectors of Quito, The operations manager pointed out that it was precisely in several high areas of the city and It was due to the high consumption generated in the capital which caused a momentary shortage in some distribution plants. (I)