The companies of services of supply, saneamiento and reuse of water sue a rise of the canon 

A study carried out by the Spanish Association of Supplies of Water and Saneamiento (Aeas) and the Spanish Association of Managing Companies of the Services of Water to Populations (AGA) shows that the prices that pays the user do not cover the whole of the costs of the services of urban water. For Fernando Morcillo, general director of Aeas, these services in our country enjoy of “a excellent level of quality, hygiene and comfort”, but are not sustainable to half or long term in the current situation and with the level tarifario existent. Thus, it proposes to go up the price to individuals, companies and industries. “The effort has to be collective and no only of the sector of urban users, but orderly and gradual”, explains.

The degree of coverage of the costs by the prices in our country is “quite heterogeneous”, since the responsibility of the fixation of the prices is municipal and, therefore, corresponds, in general, to each city council the establishment of the structure tarifaria and the imputable prices to the user by the development of the service.

As it explains to Interempresas Fernando Morcillo, general director of Spanish Association of Supplies of Water and Saneamiento (Aeas), the European Directive Mark of the Water established in the year 2000 the politics of ‘recovery of costs', through the ‘suitable contribution of the users', under the principle of ‘who contaminates pay'. “And all this considering that there are operative costs, financial and of maintenance, but also environingingmental costs and of the ‘resource', the natural water”, adds Morcillo.

Seems obvious to think that in Spain, when treating a dry country and with a strong seasonal fluctuation and geographic, the cost of the resource would have to be upper to the of the countries of the humid Europe.

Obviously, the Spanish society does charge of all the costs of the services of water, since, in contrary case, these or the infrastructures that do them possible would be dilapidated, would not be of quality or simply would not exist. But, as it remembers the general director of Aeas, traditionally this does through what the European summary in the concept ‘3T', that is to say, by means of the prices, the general taxles (the second T corresponding to tax or tax in English) and the transfers (European subventions basically).

‘The one who contaminates pay'

The progressive prices of blocks of consumption of increasing prices for the domestic users and the gravamen by means of the indexes or coefficients of applicable pollution to the poured industrial are mechanisms of practical utilisation that ensure the fulfillment of the principle of ‘which contaminates pay'. Nevertheless, it signals Morcillo, our country “has to progress in the informative and pedagogical work in front of the citizen to resolve, by the preventive road, real problems like the bad practices of hygienic use of the drains and domestic toilets: practical refusals of employment of the toilet like ‘cube of rubbish' or the bad habit to pour domestic chemical products or excess medicines or caducadas, mineral and vegetal oils, and other improper”.

For Morcillo, the public servicys Spaniards devote in the actuality very little budget: “there is not more than seeing the important reductions of the general budget of the State and of the autonomic and local, given the important public debt that drags ”. Besides, it ensures, the European transfers to Spain in this matter seems that they have finished in the new budgetary cycle. Therefore, “only the adecuación of the prices, in concordance with the European politics, will allow to keep the excellent level of quality, hygiene and comfort of the services of urban water”.

Price of the water in some European cities (€/m³). Source: Aeas-AGA.

As it shows this table, Spain situates in the low part of the ranking of the prices assumed by the user via prices. The general director of Aeas puts like example a recent study of the Foundation Aqualogy, published inside the payment Aquae Papers by the School of Economists of Madrid, with the title ‘Study on the price of the water in Spain'. “The study indicates that the effort of the Spanish citizen in matter of services of water remains in two thirds of the corresponding to the European average, whereas we pay more than the European average (homogenizando the standard of living and the per capita income); 25% in telephone or 23% in the purchase of power”, aims.

For Morcillo the solution goes through to go up the price to individuals, companies and industries. “Definitely, in the coyuntura current, seems necessary to realizar the economic analyses directed to take decisions in matter of future evolution of the prices, since all seems to indicate that it is precise to increase the price of the water”. And no only of the urban water, that represents something less than 20% of the total consumption, since the rest is agriculture and industry no urban. “The effort has to be collective and no only of the sector of urban users, but orderly and gradual”, adds.

The familiar cost of the services of urban water (supply and saneamiento or purification of residual) is of 0,7% of the total, that is to say, of each 100 euros that spend in our homes so only pay 70 cents of euro, much less of a euro, by the services of water, being as it is a very basic and vital.

“With what spend in a cane of beer have for 2,6 days of consumption of a family of 3 members. A shower in summer costs us 11 cents. Definitely significant data that have to do us think”, explains the general director of Aeas. It does now 4 years Aeas organised a thematic day of experts titled ‘Pay what costs the water?'. “This same reflection have to do it the citizens”, sustains.

“Have some excellent services, which is more extraordinary in a dry country, and this is a merit of our society, of the successive generations that have preceded us and also of ours. This traditional culture, with his logical altibajos, and the absolutely indispensable continuity of the politics (that they would have to be of State, pactadas and moved away of the discussions partidistas and cortoplacistas) are keys that would owe to remain and that we would have to improve to leave the best bequeathed to the coming generations”, thinks Morcillo.

Price of the water of domestic use by autonomous communities (€/m3). Source: Aeas-AGA.

The conditions of natural availability of the resource and of his original environingingmental quality repercuten in the cost (greater needs of storage, transport and of treatment). However, what more influences in the price assumed by the user is the degree of coverage of the costs by the price. This explains why the price of the water in Murcia is the most elevated of our country.

Definitely, Murcia is a dry region, and his sources of natural waters are not the ones of better quality, compared with other regions. Besides, it explains Morcillo, the model murciano of waste management water (“of autonomic field, superbly managed by the public entity Esamur and with a canon of purification very structured and applied”) is practically “autosuficiente” and, therefore, the costs cover with this price that pay all the users of the concrete service of purification.

Our domestic consumption

In Spain the ratio of domestic consumption is of the more basses of the world advanced, made compatible with an excellent level of domestic comfort and quality (126 litres by inhabitant and day into use domestic). In this sense, Morcillo adds: “The effort of our Public Administration and of the sustained operators and reiterated —effort unnatural in an economic activity, as the operators of water are of the few companies that do advertising so that it consummates less product— has helped a lot to this sensitisation, to the equal that the employment of progressive prices, widely generalised in Spain, that tax the wasteful”.

So much in engineering as under construction or in provision of services of supply, saneamiento and reuse, the Spanish sector is leading in the international field. Like this it accredits it, it explains Morcillo, the Spanish business presence in the outside. “They are very known our skilled companies in designing projects, implant infrastructures of desalación of waters of sea and operate them and keep them during his useful life, for example”, affirms.

“Perhaps is less visible, but are almost 100 million people, further of our borders, to which ours associated (public and private companies and operators of services of water) loan different types of services in the cycle of the urban water. It is, definitely, a representative sector of the good do that it would have to be synonymous of the ‘Mark Spain', in our case with the surname ‘Waters”, adds.

From does years, the association sues the greater possible support of the Public Administration and of those responsible institutions of the image and international export, as it is “indispensable” to be able to compete in this global world. And the facts help, argues Morcillo, since the Spanish model of gobernanza and administration of the water (Hydrographic Demarcations) is recognised worldwide and enjoys of an enormous prestige and tradition. “No in vain one of the first laws in matter of waters was the Spaniard of 1879”, explains.

As it shows the graphic, the increase of the real bill of water for an user type, in the last 10 years, is underneath of the IPC. Source: Aeas-AGA.

The legal device European and Spanish is “very wide and complex”. To such an extent it is them like this, it explains Morcillo, that in the actuality the European Commission has drafted a species of white book, or Blue Print, as it designates in the European slang, to try have of a schematic sectorial vision and simplified. Our state structure competencial, with autonomic and local responsibilities, is “very complex and in some point something discordant”.

According to the general director of Aeas, the sector needs one some harmonisation, since it has of more than 2.000 operators of different services regulated fundamentally by the city councils and this generates “heterogeneities that does not understand the citizen and that do less efficient the work of the operators”. Thus, the association pleads for a basic regulation general that, according to other national and international experiences, could help to the necessary efficiency. “The ideas advanced by the minister Arias Cañete on the analysis and optimisation of the legislative frame in this regard (modification or complementation of the Law of Waters) are a worthy referent of resaltar and that encourages us”, aims in this sense Morcillo.

To this efficiency, signals, helps him the grouping or concentration of isolated services to create populational areas of greater entity. “We understand that it is an advance the promulgation of the recent Law 27/2013, of 27 December, of rationalisation and sustainability of the Local Administration, that promotes the coordination of municipal services with lower population of 20.000 inhabitants by the deputations and the establishment of the effective cost”.

On the other hand, Morcillo affirms that the models of integration of the group of activities of the urban services (supply, saneamiento and reuse) are “a successful example” to advance in said efficiency. “Like this, if we advanced in a regulation armonizadora, in the promotion of efficient units and in the integration of services, would progress in the aim to serve better to the citizen”.

For Morcillo, the supply of water, that is to say, the supply, is “reasonably good”, and like this confirm it the systematic surveys that carry out the operators between the users. However, the services of water integrate more activities. Like this, the section of sewerage suffers of “quite a lot of deficiencies” by antiquity and obsolescence of the networks colectoras, but also by fault of tecnificación in the conservation and preventive maintenance and advanced.

In the purification of residual, the own Magrama recognises the incumplimiento partial of the program of purification and the penalizing files opened by the European Commission. Besides, as it aims the general director of Aeas, is necessary to build some debuggers to give service to average or small populations and adapt us to the fulfillment of greater requirements in the quality of the poured to the designated sensitive zones (additional purification of nutrients: phosphorus and nitrogen). “But perhaps the gravest problem, was the derivative of the economic needs to keep and improve the systems, by what go back again to the price”, adds.

For Morcillo, in saneamiento “lacking much more for doing”. In the year 2007, the mount budgetary of the designated National Plan of Quality of the Waters rose to 19.000 million euros, of which, according to the general director of Aeas, have executed very few. “Have a deficit of infrastructure for doing, to the that it is necessary to add the cost of the conservation and renewal of the complete and complex hydraulics heritage devoted to the integral cycle of the water. And if there are not a lot of possibilities to attend these needs with the public budgets, few exits have except that the citizen assume them, via price. And as it requires financials, and that do not compute like public debt, the options go through the Private Public Collaborations (CPP)”.

For Morcillo, in matter of water, Spain is “efficient, technologically advanced and competitive”. However, “we have to improve the financial mechanisms to face up to the European commitments, to the demanded by the environingingmental sustainability and the maintenance of the levels of quality to which are accustomed”, aims.

The infrastructures and the Spanish services of urban water are “powerful and powerful” and have, therefore, enough inertia. “If during a year does not invest in replacement or renewal does not happen at all. Perhaps neither we would notice a lot of deterioration in two years. But to the cape of five or ten years the deterioration is evident and could be irreversible or will require extraordinary efforts to recover the standards of quality. Now, passed something more than 5 years of crisis and of extraordinary reduction of the public investments, would not owe to follow long more without restarting the previous levels. In the current situation and with the level tarifario existent the services are not sustainable to half or long term”, signals.

On Aeas

The Spanish Association of Supplies of Water and Saneamiento (Aeas) is a professional association, that groups and represents to entities, companies and people that provide services of supply, saneamiento and reuse of water. The 300 associated of Aeas, of public character, deprived or mixed give service to more than two thirds of the Spanish population and to more than 100 million people out of our country.

Constituted in 1973, Aeas coordinates, spreads and defends the activity of the services and companies of supply of water and saneamiento and is an engine of stimulus to the investigation, collaboration and communication in the sector. Besides, it collaborates with the administrations in matter of legislation, regulation and technical performance, looking for always the improvement of the services of water and keeping an active paper in learning and studies on the activity, always in collaboration with all the public and private agents.