Promoted by the Portuguese Association of Large Families (APFN), the Study of Basic Services results from the analysis of water supply, sanitation, and waste tariffs, practiced on October 31, 2023, in all Portuguese municipalities, including the islands, concluding that “there is a lack of equality in the price of these services”.

Speaking to Lusa agency, the person responsible for the study, Filipa Baker, highlighted that there is “a great injustice in terms of prices” charged for these three basic services in Portugal, explaining that the analysis is carried out “from two perspectives”, the family dimension and the tariffs of the 308 Portuguese municipalities.

“Larger families, in general, end up paying a higher price per cubic meter of consumption than if they lived in a smaller family”, said Filipa Baker, noting that most water supply tariffs are staggered in order to penalise waste, but without taking into account the number of people in the household, “strongly penalising large families”.

In water supply, which is the “most expensive service for families”, national differences in the total annual bill can amount to 1,500 euros for the same consumption, “for example, if a family of 10 people lives in Lajes das Flores, in the Azores, you pay 53.52 euros/year, but if you live in Tábua, Santa Comba Dão or Mortágua the value is fixed at 1,596.67 euros/year”.

Regarding sanitation, the price discrepancy is “close to 1,000 euros”, comparing the case of a family of 10 people living in Mortágua (40.22 euros/year) with that of one living in Covilhã (1,027.31 euros /year).

As for the solid waste service, the APFN study identified a difference of 400 euros/year for the same consumption, in the case of a family of 10 people, which in Sever do Vouga pays 17.20 euros/year, while in Tavira it pays 423.75 euros/year.

According to the study, between municipalities in the same district, there are also “huge discrepancies”, particularly in Porto, in the case of a family of 10 members, in the annual bill referring to the variable component, whereas in the water supply if you live in Lousada pay 128 euros, but in Valongo you pay 1,185 euros; in sanitation, it can vary between 97 euros in Matosinhos and 703 euros in Gondomar; and in waste, you can benefit from a zero variable tariff in Paredes or Marco de Canaveses, while in Maia you pay 296 euros.

Filipa Baker also mentioned that the current tariffs are designed to penalize waste in medium-sized families, with three people, but the country, “unfortunately, increasingly has smaller families and more people living in isolation”, and the concept of large family has been applied from five elements.

In this context, the APFN defends the implementation of family tariffs – 234 municipalities already have them in water supply, 212 in sanitation, and 54 in waste –, to correct the “injustice” in terms of amounts charged, and the reduction of marked disparities in the price basis of these basic services, in order to “equalise the situation at the country level”, despite there being “many geographical constraints”.