This is one of the consequences of the persistent drought affecting Uruguay, which has the San Severino reservoir at minimum levels, which supplies the vital liquid to this capital, the department of Canelones and suburban areas.
Faced with the crisis, OSE decided to take water from sources closer to the Río de la Plata and mix it with the fresh water from San Severino, which raised the chloride and sodium parameters, with an impact on the population and industry.
Six out of 10 companies that use it said that they had production problems due to this change, according to a study by the Chamber of Industries (CIU).
The survey included 153 industrial companies. Of this total, 58% reported that they use OSE water in their production processes.
Of those that do use it, 69% stated that they do not have an alternative plan to implement in the next two weeks in case there are restrictions in the supply of OSE or the supply is discontinued.
Within this total, 78% of the companies that do not have an alternative plan would stop production in the event of a supply disruption by the public entity.
Sixty-two percent of the companies that use this water reported difficulties in their production processes due to higher salinity.
The main problems were difficulty in water treatment, damage to machinery and equipment, change in taste and quality of production.
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