Cyprus Mail 21 January 2020 - article by Gina Agapiou
The location of the problem. Photo courtesy of Markos Foutas
Authorities have restored water provision at the village of Pissouri but alternative sources will be sought in a bid to avoid supply problems in the future, the Cyprus Mail has learned.
Members of Pissouri community council and the Limassol water board worked together to restore water supply in the village, after the lines ruptured two weeks ago, a phenomenon blamed on the outdated pipes.
“This suggestion was put forward back in 2016,” said Markos Foutas, a member of the community council who volunteered to help identify the location of the faulty pipes last week using a drone.
Pissouri was left without water last year too and the water board took some precautions to prevent problems occurring in the future.
“The pipes were damaged in two locations, in different places from last year” Foutas said. “This is the first time such problems occur and it is really strange.”
After some minor issues were found and repaired in Dhiarizos river, a bigger problem appeared in the 30-year-old pipes in Ha-Potami river.
According to the volunteer, he used a drone and identified a broken pipe in Ha-Potami last Thursday.
Workers were deployed in the region and the damage was repaired over the weekend.
“Thankfully a team of 16 to 18 people were working long hours daily and the issue was soon repaired,” Foutas said.
All houses of the Limassol village had water by Sunday.
Water was being transported to the village in tanker trucks for eleven days while the pipes were being repaired.
“Now it is secured, it won’t rupture again…at the specific location” said Foutas.
Community leader Lazaros Lazarou told Cyprus Mail on Tuesday a planned meeting with the Minister of Agriculture Costas Kadis is expected to take place in the upcoming days to discuss the possibility of an alternative water supply source.
One of the options would be to get water from a desalination unity that is planned for Paphos.
