AAA is responsible for managing the intermunicipal water supply and sanitation system serving 10 municipalities in the Portalegre district: Alter do Chão, Arronches, Castelo de Vide, Crato, Fronteira, Gavião, Marvão, Nisa, Ponte de Sor and Sousel.

In a statement, the intermunicipal company indicated that it has set as its objective "combating illegal uses" of the public water supply network, with "zero illegal use" as a priority of its actions.

Recalling that it is responsible for water supply and sanitation in “two-thirds” of the municipalities in Alto Alentejo, the company stated that it has already invested “9.6 million euros” in the renovation and creation of infrastructure, as well as in the acquisition of equipment and technology using artificial intelligence (AI).

Quoted in the statement, AAA's CEO, Rui Choças, explained that one of the main challenges for this year “is reducing non-revenue water,” that is, the difference between the volume of water entering the distribution system and the volume actually billed to consumers.

He also stressed that this situation also results from “clandestine connections to the public network and manipulations aimed at artificially reducing recorded consumption.”

AAA revealed that last year it “eliminated 106 illegal situations and replaced 30,000 meters.”

However, the company noted that since the beginning of its operations, indicators of non-revenue water “have shown positive progress,” highlighting a “significant decrease of 12%.”

This progress has resulted in a reduction in water purchases from Águas do Vale do Tejo by 400,000 cubic metres (m3),” equivalent to “280 million five-litre bottles.”

With an intermediate target of a “20%” reduction in non-revenue water by 2030, AAA said it expects to invest “six million euros” in a water-efficiency project to leverage this indicator.

Nevertheless, according to the company, the “ambition is clear” and involves “completely eradicating illegal practices in the network, achieving the goal of zero illegal activity, through the application of current regulations to offenders.”

In 2025, the company indicated that “5,125 maintenance works” were carried out, of which “3,347 were in the water supply network and 1,868 in the sewage network.”

“Since October 2024, in addition to actively searching for leaks, replacing metres, and detecting illegal activities, the company has updated the water network registry over approximately 500 kilometers (practically the distance between Porto and Faro) and repaired 680 leaks through active searching, that is, leaks that are not visible on the surface,” AAA also noted in the statement.