The new rates for services associated with the supply of water and sewerage have generated diverse opinions in the population. Many comments in Cubadebate suggest the need to correctly measure consumption, as well as reduce leaks and increase control so that this natural resource reaches homes efficiently.
The vice president of the Superior Organization of Business Management of Water and Sanitation, Ing. Yunior González Núñez affirmed that some aspects of the new rates are being evaluated, in the logical process of ordering the economy . “Times ranging from six months to a year have been established to propose improvements and changes, since the population’s planning is being taken into account and analyzed .”
Within the Water Policy and the Sustainable Development Strategy there is a basic principle which is the measurement of this natural resource . “We cannot speak of the application of rates, nor of a correct management of services; but there is adequate measurement. Various programs have been designed for this purpose. One of them is the Program for the placement of hydrometers to which considerable financial resources are devoted to complement the measurement in family nuclei and in state centers ”, he highlighted.
In Cuba at the end of 2020, around 2 million cores were certified with hydrometers, of which 640,000 were working correctly to meter the water.
47% of the population receives water daily or every other day. González Núñez said that it is a priority to locate hydrometers in places where water is enjoyed continuously and in sufficient quantities, so that the placement of the measuring instrument constitutes a way of saving.
“The measurement of water is the correct way to apply tariffs according to consumption,” insisted the engineer.
In Cuba, the water supply and sanitation service is subsidized ̶ he said ̶ for this reason it is necessary to highlight some costs that our company incurs to bring drinking water to homes.
Due to the characteristics of the service, one of the great expenses is electricity. ” More than 80% of the water served is through pumping and this practice consumes a lot of electricity”
The chemicals that need to be added to make the water drinkable also influence costs, along with workers’ wages and infrastructure maintenance.
The engineer Yunior González Núñez, vice president of the Superior Organization of Business Management of Water and Sanitation, reported that taking into account all the expenses explained above, it is calculated that the cost of producing 1m 3 of water is $ 1.48 Cuban pesos.
“Losses due to leaks, a group of people who do not pay for the service or the inefficiencies of the company in the management of the collection lead to the income for 1m 3 of produced water being $ 0.99 CUP at the end of 2020″, added.
The new rate was approved by agreement 8991/2021 of the Council of Ministers that establishes the maximum rates in Cuban pesos for the domestic sector. “Before the ordinance, there were only two large sectors that were recognized for the application of the tariff; the state sector and the non-state sector. In 2021 it is divided into three large blocks, the first the sector, residential or domestic; second, the budgeted state sector; and the third, the productive sector ”, announced González Núñez.
This last block includes socialist state companies, joint ventures and the self-employed.
In the case of the domestic sector, there are two main modalities. The vice president of the OSDE for Water and Sanitation said that there are differences between the nuclei that have a meter located at the entrance of their houses, so it is possible to measure daily consumption and there is the population that is not metered, therefore set a fixed fee for the service.
Homes that do not have a hydrometer will pay a constant rate of 7.00 CUP for each inhabitant of the nucleus. “The company has the responsibility of guaranteeing the water service, for this reason it is necessary for people to declare one hundred percent of the inhabitants of the house. The problem lies when technically calculating the population to be served in a distribution, if you do not have the actual amount, you will not pump the required water, “the engineer stressed.
Homes that are metered have a tiered rate. “The wasteful of water will have to pay a corrective fee, to promote an adequate use of the water resource.”
International statistics establish that normal daily consumption is 100 liters per inhabitant, which is also the norm that is collected in Cuba. Taking the aforementioned as a reference, for 3 m 3 per month, which is the equivalent of these 100 liters, a payment of 1.75 CUP is established.
Aqueduct services UM Previous Rate New Rate
Up to 3.0 m 3 / inhab / month m 3 0.25 1.75
More than 3.0 m 3 / inhab / month up to 4.5 m 3 / inhab / month m 3 0.50 3.50
More than 4.5 m 3 / inhab / month up to 6.0 m 3 / inhab / month m 3 0.75 5.25
More than 6.0 m 3 / inhab / month up to 7.5 m 3 / inhab / month m 3 1.00 7.00
More than 7.5 m 3 / inhab / month up to 8.5 m 3 / inhab / month m 3 1.50 10.50
More than 8.5 m 3 / hab / month m 3 3.00 21.00
The official said that cases that consume more than 8.5 m 3 / inhab / month are scarce in the country, occur in places where recreational activities are carried out and in other prime examples.
In those multi-family buildings where individual footage per apartment is not possible, the service fee of 7.00 CUP per person per month applies.
Natural persons who carry out economic activities linked to other forms of non-state management duly authorized in their domicile and receive the water service for a single connection, the rate of the metered service is applied under the following distribution principle: domestic sector rate productive sector rate.
“Workers in the productive sector who consume up to 6.0 m 3 / inhab / month and live in the same place of business will be charged the rate as if it were domestic consumption. If they consume more than 6.0 m 3 / inhab / month, they will be charged the rate of the productive sector to differentiate the high consumption of some forms of domestic consumption management ”
In the case of water supply with tank cars, it is established that if the service of tank cars for the water supply eventually motivated by interruptions attributable to the supplier, it is free . On the other hand, if it is requested permanently or eventually due to interruptions not attributable to the supplier, the price per m 3 is 20.00CUP.
The rate for the supply service of desalinated or purified water per m 3 is 7.00CUP.
Sewer service fees
Participants in the press conference on new water and sewerage rates. Photo: Abel Padrón Padilla / Cubadebate
The management of liquid waste is another of the important elements within the new OSDE water and sanitation tariffs. It was announced at the press conference that for every liter of clean water consumed, 80% returns to the environment as waste water. “This residual water must be processed, so that it reaches an optimal state, so nature can absorb it as a natural resource.”
The costs to process wastewater are higher than to supply water from an aquifer. The sewage evacuation service through sewerage networks is proposed as a percentage surcharge of 30% on the amount of the billing of the water supply service.
In the case of cleaning the graves, a cost per trip of 280.00 CUP was established. “The capacity of the pit cleaning cars for one trip is up to 6 m 3 “, clarified González Núñez.
Other services are the unobstructions inside the houses.
Mechanized clearing m 27.00
Manual unblocking Time 215.00
Mechanized pit slag Trip 140.00
(Cubadebate)