Almada's water cuts.
Since June 2026, over 100,000 people in Almada – Costa da Caparica, Charneca, Sobreda, Capuchos, Laranjeiro, Feijó – have lived with rotating water cuts, some lasting 12+ hours. It isn't water quality: SMAS Almada holds ERSAR's 2025 "Exemplary Water Quality" seal. It's capacity, and it's political: who governs, who runs the water utility, and how much they've invested. Here is that story in open data.
1 · The crisis, in human terms
12+ consecutive hours without water in Costa da Caparica (Diário de Notícias); a case reported to DECO PROteste: a Costa da Caparica household went without water from 4pm to 11pm – 7 straight hours, with no warning. a network fault in Charneca da Caparica (N377) was reported to SMAS almost daily since 26 June – 9+ straight days by 5 July, a full week before the heat peak. cafés and restaurants in Costa da Caparica, at the height of the beach season, forced to close or refuse service midday because they couldn't guarantee water for hygiene and food prep (Diário de Notícias · O Almadense). This is what "cortes de água" means before any chart of temperatures or tariffs:
last checked: evening of 5 July – no confirmation yet of the outcome of Monday's protest at SMAS headquarters, or of a newer petition count
2 · The heat spike
Almada's estimated daily max temperature climbed to 38.7 °C on 02/07/2026, above the national mean of 37.3 °C that day. Heat spikes water demand – watering, showers, pools – exactly as the beach-season population arrives. It is one factor among several, not the whole story.
3 · The summer surge
Almada as a whole is average – 17.0% second homes, below the national 18.5%. But the load concentrates on the coast: in the Costa da Caparica parish, 6,408 of 13,765 dwellings (46.6%) are second homes. In summer they fill and demand decouples from the resident population.
4 · The aquifer Almada drinks from
Almada's supply is 100% groundwater from the T3 · Bacia do Tejo-Sado / Margem Esquerda aquifer – which is why the fix is new wells, not a new river. The official groundwater-quantity network has 122 stations on this aquifer; only 52 are active, and 12 sit in the Almada area (4 active).
Groundwater-monitoring stations · aquifer T3 (SNIRH / APA)…
Each dot is a monitoring station on the Tejo-Sado left-bank aquifer. Hover for its code and status.
5 · How it got here
Two different failures, one year apart. In August 2025 the pipes BURST – two large trunk-main ruptures cut Costa da Caparica. In 2026 the system ran out of CAPACITY – SMAS's own words: demand above what its wells capture daily. On 5 July, the 2025 failure mode returned on top of the rationing. The warnings predate the heatwave by weeks.
6 · The politics: who answers
Inês de Medeiros (PS) has led the câmara since 2017, re-elected in October 2025 to a 3rd and final term with 29.1%. The PS-CDU governance agreement (17 Nov 2025) handed the SMAS presidency to the CDU; an external audit of the municipal universe was also agreed. Since December 2025, SMAS is chaired by Luís Palma (CDU) – and the mayor herself sits as first board member. Palma chaired the Laranjeiro e Feijó parish union from 2013 to 2025 – two of the parishes now facing cuts. The twist is on record: In August 2025 the CDU blamed “the executive's systematic refusal to invest” in the water networks. Since December 2025, a CDU councillor chairs SMAS.
Central government: Maria da Graça Carvalho, Environment and Energy Minister said she was in “permanent” contact with water services; framed Almada as a local abstraction/distribution problem, not drought – “temos reservas de água, porque choveu muito este inverno”. The regulator ERSAR asked SMAS for explanations (made public 4 July).
7 · The response and the money
The official fix is wells: 1 new borehole already running, 1 due by end of July, 3 in licensing and 3 in design. In the municipal plan, the two 2026 wells appear in the plan as Aroeira (Almada) and Corroios (Seixal) – which one already runs was not disclosed; on Antena 1, the mayor and SMAS spoke of two more wells by the end of 2026. Meanwhile, rationing:
- “gestão solidária e rotativa da rede” (the official phrase: solidary, rotating network management)
- concelho-wide pressure reduction from 00:00 to 06:00 so reservoirs can recover
- public-space irrigation at minimum; non-essential street washing suspended
- stepped-up inspection of illegal network connections
- 24h emergency line: 800 205 712
The money: SMAS's 2026 budget is €39.8M, of which €8.0M is investment (investment covers water AND sanitation – no water-only breakdown was published), approved by the câmara on 26 Jan and the municipal assembly on 11 Feb 2026. Tariffs were frozen in 2024, then +2,1% (2025) and +1,8% (2026) (changes computed from SMAS's official tariff schedules (Edital 1/2026)). Longer term, the only announced structural measure: updating the municipality's Strategic Water Supply Plan (2026 plan). No EPAL/Águas do Tejo Atlântico bulk connection and no desalination announced.
8 · The public reaction
A petition – “Fim dos cortes frequentes de água em Almada – Exigimos uma solução urgente” – has 3,971 signatures (from 1,500 to 3,971 in two days), and the regulator ERSAR has asked SMAS for explanations. On complaint platforms, SMAS Almada sits at the bottom of the water table. Important: this measures reaction and customer service, not water quality – which passes.
9 · The causes, in layers
Heat + the seasonal peak. It is the operator's own admission: “high temperatures and the significant rise in seasonal population”; “overall demand has exceeded the water we can capture daily from our wells”.
A 100% groundwater system, with many wells in the neighbouring municipality (Vale de Milhaços, Miratejo and Corroios, in Seixal – 2019 figures: 50-60,000 m³/day on average, 110,000 peaks, ~28% network losses). And short storage: the 00:00-06:00 pressure cuts exist precisely so reservoirs can recover.
It is NOT drought: at end-May 2026, 0% of the mainland was in drought (IPMA) and national reservoirs sat at 86% (“We are very well prepared”, APA). National abundance never reaches Almada's taps because Almada does not drink from dams.
The warnings are on record: 2025's ruptures, the parish council's 9 June statement – “identified for many years” –, the petition created on 21 June, before the heatwave. Tariffs were frozen in 2024 and have risen ~2%/year since; 2026 investment is €7.96M for water AND sanitation. Nationally, ERSAR reports mains renewal at 0.5%/year against a 1.5% target.
Follow the money
SMAS Almada and the câmara are public buyers – their contracts are public records. See who they actually pay:
The figures
- 100k+people affected at the peakRTP · 3 Jul 2026
- 9+ daysthe longest single fault ran unresolvedO Almadense · reported since 26 Jun
- 12+ hrslongest single continuous outageDiário de Notícias · Costa da Caparica
- 46.6%of Costa da Caparica homes are second homesINE · 2021 Census (18.5% nationally)
- 3,971signatures on the water-cuts petitionPetição Pública · 2026-07-05
- 1+1+3+3new wells: running / end July / licensing / designSMAS · CM Almada · 3 Jul 2026
- 38.7 °CAlmada's peak temperature (context, not cause alone)IPMA · 02/07/2026 (national mean 37.3 °C)