Mains water supply is the responsibility of the local Council (Câmara). In the past each individual Council produced their own water, treated it, and distributed it to the consumers.  Many of the smaller Councils did not have enough consumers to employ full-time specialists to run the supply and the quality of the service offered therefore varied considerably from one Council to another. 

Now many Councils are joining together with Aguas de Portugal (a state owned Corporation) to establish larger water supply companies to provide better quality treated water.  These companies will provide potable water to the local Councils who retain responsibility for its distribution and billing of the final consumers.  The Lisbon Water Company, EPAL, already works in this way supplying water to many of the Councils around Lisbon.  Such companies are being established in the north, around Setúbal, and the west and east of the Algarve.

With the adherence to the EU, Portugal has invested heavily in improving water supplies to meet the EU-wide regulations.  The Ministry of Environment monitors the quality of water supply and has begun publishing annual reports. The Ministry of Health provides an independent control on the quality of the water supplied.

Obtaining a mains water connection

As each Council (Câmara) is responsible for water supply the details of the administration procedures vary from town to town.  In the smaller towns the water supply may be run from the general offices of the Town Council (