Portugal Puts 30 Million Euros Behind Recycling Treated Sewage for Parks, Streets and Factories, Paying Up to 85 Percent of Each Project

Councils and public water companies on the mainland can now apply for a share of 30 million euros to turn treated sewage into water that can be used again, for watering parks, cleaning streets or supplying factories that have no need of drinking water. The money comes from Sustentável 2030, the EU-funded programme for climate action and sustainability, which can cover up to 85 percent of the cost of each project.

The Ministry of the Environment and Energy and the Ministry of the Economy and Territorial Cohesion announced the call on Wednesday. The notice itself, coded PACS-2026-23, was published on the programme's website on 30 September.

Who can apply, and for what

The call is open to municipalities and their associations, state-owned and municipal companies, and municipal or intermunicipal concession holders. In practice it is aimed at the bodies that run the large wastewater systems, known in Portugal as systems "em alta", that operate the ETAR (Estações de Tratamento de Águas Residuais, or wastewater treatment plants).

Two kinds of investment qualify. The first is extra treatment stages at an existing plant so that it can produce Água para Reutilização (water for reuse) of a quality fit for non-drinking purposes. The second is the pipes, pumps, storage tanks and rechlorination points needed to carry that water to a delivery point where any end user can draw on it, on transparent and non-discriminatory terms.

Each application must cover a single treatment system and come with a demand study naming the expected users and volumes. It must also explain, in figures, which uses of drinking water the recycled supply will replace. Applicants need a production licence from the Agência Portuguesa do Ambiente (Portuguese Environment Agency) under Decreto-Lei n.º 119/2019, or proof that they have asked for one, and a favourable opinion from the same agency that the project fits the national water and sanitation strategy, PENSAARP 2030.

Spending already incurred can count: invoices issued and paid from 31 March 2025 are eligible. Operating, maintenance and repair costs are not.

Deadlines and conditions

The call runs in two phases. The first closes at 18:00 on 20 May 2027, with decisions due by 23 August 2027. The second runs to 18:00 on 20 September 2027, with decisions by 27 December 2027.

The 85 percent rate can fall by 15 percentage points if the environment agency finds that a project does not meet the strategy's requirements on scale, such as grouping systems or working in partnership. Councils in river basins where water stress is above 50 percent on the European exploitation index will not be penalised, under a government resolution of August 2025.

"This is an effort we are making to adapt to the climate change that has already arrived," the environment minister, Maria da Graça Carvalho, said in the ministries' statement. The economy minister, Manuel Castro Almeida, said it was "crucial to keep investing in the resilience of infrastructure" so that the country is better prepared for the effects of climate change.

The call comes after a dry year in parts of the country. As we reported in September, the north, not the south, is where water is short this year, and the environment agency has acknowledged that the state of Portugal's rivers and aquifers has slipped backwards.

Full conditions and the application forms are on the Sustentável 2030 website, and applications go through the Balcão dos Fundos (Funds Portal). The free Linha dos Fundos helpline is 800 10 35 10, on weekdays from 09:00 to 18:00.