Cyprus Mail 26 March 2025 - by Iole Damaskinos
 |
| Asprokremmos reservoir at 25.6 per cent full as per the Water Development Department (WDD) data , March 24, 2025 |
Water from privately-owned boreholes are being gradually inducted into the municipal water supply, Akamas Mayor Marinos Lambrou said on Wednesday, adding that urgent solutions needed to be found to avoid extended water cuts.
Speaking to the Cyprus Mail Lambrou added that delays with the bidding process for the planned Kissonerga desalination plant might make the proposed plant obsolete. “It is looking quite certain now that the expansion of the Asprokremmos refinery will be achieved faster than the mobile desalination unit,” Lambrou said.
The mayor added that the Paphos district administration (EOA) had already secured purchase agreements from two private borehole owners, and two more were expected to be linked up to the municipal water supply in the coming days.
The mayor said he could not provide information about the cost of this solution which was the prerogative of the EOA. The Cyprus Mail is awaiting a response from the district self-governance organisation over the question.
Asked whether the situation was worse than the acute crisis in the summer of 2008 [when tankers were shipped in from Greece to the tune of €40 mil], the mayor replied cautiously that it was “on a par with that crisis.”
Elsewhere, long term residents of Peyia told the Cyprus Mail that they are in fact already familiar with water shortages due to pump failures and periodic faults.
“We are already storing water and trying to conserve for the summer,” one resident said. “At my household we are collecting shower water and using it to water our plants. People can just use a bin with a liner, there’s no need to spend money.”
Built-in grey water recycling plumbing systems, by some estimates, could reduce household water consumption by up to 45 per cent, however, they do not currently appear to feature on the authorities’ radar in any meaningful way.
Meanwhile, the bidding process for the new Paphos mobile desalination plant in Kissonerga expires on Wednesday, in the wake of water cuts already underway. The outcome of the process has been postponed twice to date.
Despite earlier statements by officials that regular water cuts would start in May, and last through June and July, residents had started reporting on social media that taps had already run dry in Peyia.
Officials confirmed that last week parts of the municipality mainly in the Coral Bay area, found themselves without water for 24 hours.
Residents caught unawares by the cuts had been trying to glean information as to whether it was the result of damage or scheduled, and for how long and with what frequency they were expected to continue.
“There is no clarity yet as to scheduled cuts which will be announced by the EOA water department,” Lambrou said. “Our efforts are all concentrated on doing everything we can to avoid them but residents must start conserving if they have not already,” he added.
In earlier statements, Lambrou had said the situation on the cusp of the tourist season was “borderline”.
Peyia’s population surges in the summer from 7,000 to around 20,000, the mayor had earlier told the Cyprus Mail.
The community is mainly supplied by the Asprokremmos refinery, which processes dam water, outputting 30,000 m3 per day, while the demand is for 40,000 m3. An 84-month contract worth €1,887,065 for the refinery had been signed in January to increase the plant’s capacity by 10,000m3 within a period of 12 months.
The planned mobile desalination plant in Kissonerga was to supply the additional 10,000m3 sooner.
Potima Bay in Kissonerga, the site of the anticipated mobile desalination unit
The municipal authority is looking for ways to take matters in hand while state deliberations over the plant are underway. The local council had floated the idea of operating a small municipal desalination unit as an emergency stopgap, should this be technically and financially feasible.
The initial deadline for bidding for the mobile unit to be built in Potima Bay, had been February 4. An extension of two more weeks was granted, followed by another extension of several days. The delays have cast doubts over the plant’s expected start of operations in November.
The Paphos EOA had said the solution for covering the immediate gap in supply is to be found in co-opting existing boreholes or drilling new ones.
