The State of Alagoas has launched a tender notice seeking private infrastructure developer for water supply and sewage services in the Metropolitan Region of Maceió. The region has about 1.5 million inhabitants, out of a total of 3.3 million in Alagoas. The concessionaire will universalize the water supply in six years and take the sewage network to 90% of the population in sixteen years. The concession period for the project is 35 years.

The concession foresees total investments of BRL 2.6 billion (US$ 515 million), with BRL 2 billion (US$ 396 million) already invested in the first 8 years. The project is the first to be auctioned under the program of the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) for structuring projects in the sanitation sector. This program aims to implement projects that provide access to water and sewage services to at least 20 million people. To achieve the strategic objectives of its agenda for Brazilian development, BNDES started to act as a factory of projects and services, structuring partnerships with the public sector, new investors and qualified operators, to develop private solutions to public problems.

Another important objective of the project is to reduce the level of water losses, generating more efficiency in the use of water resources. Losses in the region are expected to fall from the current level of 59% and, in 20 years, reach 25%. Among the expected benefits with the expansion of the water supply and sewage system are the improvement in the health of the population of Alagoas, the increase in productivity at work and at school, by reducing sick leave, incentives to tourism and real estate valuation.