São Paulo: Saving Water Means Saving Money
Nearly two decades ago a São Paulo shopping mall took a bold step to save water. Today, the vacuum technology that delivered the savings has paid for itself over and over again.Water is precious in Brazil. In 2015, the reservoir supplying São Paulo, a metropolitan region of 20 million people, nearly dried up. In 2017, there were 872 cities in northeastern Brazil under a federal state of emergency due to drought. In São Paulo, water costs a shopping mall owner between 20 and 40 Brazilian reals per cubic meter – approximately 5 to 10 euros. In comparison, the average price for a cubic