The Obras Sanitarias del Estado (State Sanitary Works, OSE) public company sought sources that increase the values of chloride and salt in the water distributed to the inhabitants of Montevideo, Canelones and urban areas.
According to the OSE, water is extracted from sources near the estuary of the Río de la Plata, which flows into the Atlantic Ocean.
The Minister of Public Health, Karina Rando, recommended that pregnant women, babies and persons with various ailments should consume bottled water, an option out of reach for Uruguayan families, which the government seeks to furnish, according to plans implemented by various agencies, that have joined the initiatives of the Municipality of Montevideo.
The opposition party, Frente Amplio , the PIT-CNT trade union, and other social groups, consider that the cabinet was slow to respond to the water situation. According to persistent criticism, the government of President Luis Lacalle Pou miscalculated the effects on the population.
The Executive has other older plans, such as the Arazatí project, which provides for the construction of infrastructure to make water drinkable for the benefit of 60 towns, but this will take time, and the current crisis cannot wait.
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