In the region, more than 166 million people lack access to safely managed water, according to the ECLAC (Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean), in an area that is paradoxically home to almost one-third of the planet’s fresh water. The combination of climate crisis, urban growth and increased demand is straining water supply systems across the region. Indeed, projections indicate that the problem of water scarcity for human consumption in the region will escalate in the coming decades.
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Seen from the air, northern Chile’s cities seem unlikely. Antofagasta, Mussels, Tocopilla and Calama stretch between the Pacific Ocean and the Atacama Desert, one of the most arid places in the world. Rainfall here is so low that water availability has historically conditioned the urban growth, mining and everyday life of the people who live in the area.
For decades, these cities relied on aquifers and high-Andean rivers that transported water over distances of hundreds of kilometres. But increased demand, pressure from the mining industry, and the prolonged drought that affects Chile forced them to look for new alternatives. The answer came from the sea.
Antofagasta has become one of the most advanced examples of desalination for human consumption in Latin America.
Antofagasta has become one of the most advanced examples of desalination for human water consumption in Latin America. In 2025, together with the neighbouring city of Mejillones, its water supplies were exclusively from desalination. It became the first large urban area in the region to cover 100% of its demand for potable water from the ocean.
In the state of Ceará, in northeastern Brazil, the causes of water shortages are not just weather-related. They are also brought about by a development model that is increasingly consuming water resources in a region that has historically suffered the consequences of drought.
Caucaia, a city of more than 370,000 inhabitants in the metropolitan area of Fortaleza, is one of the main industrial hubs in Brazil. Its proximity to the Pecém Industrial and Port Complex has attracted investments in steel, energy and logistics, sectors that need large volumes of water for their operations.
However, Ceará went through one of the worst water crises of its recent history between 2012 and 2017. Its reservoirs reached critically low levels, forcing the authorities to completely rethink water management. The experience led to new investments in water security, from transfer systems to desalination projects aimed at diversifying supply and reducing vulnerability to droughts. The tension between the pace of industrial growth and water availability remains unresolved, however.
These cities are not isolated or unavoidable cases. They are, above all, a warning. As Fernando Cortabirarte, Director of Water Cycle Operations and Innovation and Technology at ACCIONA, points out, “we need to understand water as an investment in sustainable development in an environmental, social and economic sense, and even more so in the face of the proliferation of extreme climate phenomena”. There is not just one single response, but a combination of technologies and approaches that can change the water supply situation in these cities if they are applied in a coordinated manner.
For coastal areas, desalination is one of the most powerful responses. Through reverse osmosis technology, which accounts for about 70% of global desalination capacity, seawater becomes suitable for consumption by passing salt water through salt-retaining membranes under pressure. The Adelaide desalination plant in South Australia, managed by ACCIONA, can cover up to 100% of the city’s water needs in winter, and can guarantee supplies to up to two million people. A well-designed infrastructure not only solves a crisis, it prevents later ones.
Not every solution involves bringing new water, however. At present, more than 80% of wastewater is discharged untreated into rivers and seas. Treatment and reuse mean that this volume can be returned to the water cycle for agricultural uses, food production, irrigation in urban areas, or groundwater recharge. Technologies such as biological membrane reactors enable treatment levels that previously required much more complex infrastructures. In Mexico, for example, the Atotonilco wastewater treatment plant demonstrates that this model can operate on a regional scale.
Then there is the least visible solution: reduce losses. In many Latin American cities, a significant percentage of water escapes due to leaks in distribution networks.
Then there is the least visible solution: reduce water losses. In many Latin American cities, a significant percentage of water escapes due to leaks in distribution networks before it reaches people’s homes. Every litre lost is a litre that has had to be produced, treated and transported in vain. Digital monitoring systems and real-time loss detection sensors allow the optimization of the use of water without the need for new freshwater sources. In a context of shortages, efficiency is also a way to produce enough water.
Thirsty cities in Latin America do not appear in international newspaper headlines. They do not have the scale of São Paulo or the impact of Cape Town. They also deserve solutions, however.
The technology exists. Success stories have been well documented. The challenge is to replicate them before an emergency occurs, not after. Water does not wait. And neither should these cities.