IDB wraps up final Porto Alegre sewerage project visit

An Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) mission has wrapped up its final visit regarding a US$90mn sewerage upgrade project for Brazil's Rio Grande do Sul state capital Porto Alegre, Carlos Todeschini, director of the city's water utility DMAE, told BNamericas. The mission's view of the project was positive, said Todeschini, adding that the Bank is expected to release results of this visit next month, which could include a timetable for when a loan agreement could be signed. The IDB would finance 60% of the project, which aims to triple sewage treatment coverage to 77% from 27% by 2015, sending sewage from the Ponta da Cadeia, Cavalhada and Restinga systems to the Zona Sul treatment plant. Sewage collection reaches close to 100%. Called Programa Integrado Socioambiental, the project would also help clean up the area's Guaiba Lake, which receives untreated sewage from Porto Alegre and the polluted waters of the Gravatai and Sinos rivers. Porto Alegre has some 2 million inhabitants and is a major industrial and shipping center in southern Brazil.