Precificação da água bruta para o abastecimento urbano no estado do Rio Grande do Norte

Abstract

The charge for the use of raw water is an economic instrument inserted in the environmental policy, which aims to induce users to a more rational use of water resources, as it seeks to regulate the multiple uses of water. The tariff to be charged for the use of raw water must be sufficient to achieve the objective of the charge, however, without compromising the economic viability of the user sector. The objective of this work is to evaluate the pricing of raw water for the urban supply sector in the state of Rio Grande do Norte and to analyze the sensitivity of this sector to the application of collection, proposing a table of unit tariff prices, calculated based on net profit., due to the difference between the gross revenue and the total cost of the sector, in the period from 2015 to 2019. To obtain the total revenue values to be collected with the collection and applied in the Integrated Water Resources Management System (SIGERH), each unit price was multiplied by the volume of water collected by the sanitation companies, as reported in the National Sanitation Information System (SNIS). As a result, and considering the price variation between R$ 0.02 to R$ 0.07 per m³ of water captured, an average annual revenue of R$ 4.5 to R$ 16 million was obtained, which corresponds to approximately from 12.6% to 44% of the operating, administration and maintenance costs of SIGERH in the State of RN. These values are equivalent to about 10.5% to 36.8% of the average annual profit of the sanitation sector in the State. It is hoped that the values presented in this study will serve as a reference for charging for the use of raw water and that this economic management instrument will improve the management of water resources in the state of Rio Grande do Norte.