Low investments strain Paraguay's water utility

A long period of low investments in water infrastructure is backfiring in the form of strained production capacity of Paraguay's state water utility Essap, resulting in service cuts as old installations begin to fail.

In statements to daily ABC, the utility's head, Natalicio Chase, said that Essap didn't receive significant investments in 20 years, which foreclosed necessary water infrastructure upgrades.

"Nowadays we're at our limit, without spare parts. We're always at the edge of water shortages in some areas of Asunción," he said.

Essap's head stated that the second unit of the capital's potable water plant should have been built by 2008. But the project wasn't outlined until after an extended water cut in Asunción and nearby cities in late January.

Chase told state news agency IP that the project to add an extra unit to the city's water plant will be finished in a year and a half.

He also told ABC that the January cut was caused by the failure of an old water pump that provides 30% of the city's raw water supply. To solve the problem, Essap had to make its own spare parts, because none were available in the market anymore as the pump was too old.

According to Chase, Essap's production capacity for Asunción is 440,000m3 per day, but sometimes demand reaches 480,000m3.