Filenews 4 January 2026 - by Andreas Michaelides
Should desalination be the first option to solve the water problem? I begin with an excerpt from my article in Fileleftheros on 27/03/1998: "When in 1990-91 we had the great drought, the government wanted to solve the problem with the import of water from Crete. At first when I heard it, I thought that it was a bad joke, or even a thought by someone "competent" but that would not withstand further serious discussion at the service level and would be rejected from the beginning. But the "joke" went on for a long time and we heard from the most official lips about the plans for the transfer. Even the construction of a port in Vasilikos was discussed for tankers to approach nearby or to lay pipelines to transport water to the shore, etc. Competent water officials made trips to Crete to arrange the transport...
It was then that I first felt the need to make public my opposition to such an action. At the same time, I expressed thoughts and suggestions for mitigation and why not a solution to our water problem. (see "Fileleftheros", 14/07/1991-RADICAL SOLUTIONS FOR WATER SCARCITY-). At the same time, I warned that if the implementation of this "solution" went ahead, millions would be spent and the whole project would be a resounding failure. Fortunately for the inspirers, the heavy rainfall, perhaps, that followed in the following years, left them no room to carry out such a project and so several millions were saved and their prestige was saved."
Unfortunately, however, some years later (2008), in another prolonged drought, they implemented it and the results are known. Millions were lost and we made a hole in the water....
In the meantime, they had started the construction of desalination plants. The first unit started its operation in Dhekelia in 1997 and the second near Larnaca airport in April 2001. There have been and will be more. The government says that with desalination we will never get thirsty. They said the same thing in 2001 at the inauguration of the second unit.
Desalination is good, although it seems very little that we are interested in the huge economic and environmental cost. As I also wrote in Fileleftheros (27/03/1998): "I wonder why we did not proceed with the desalination of brackish water (not seawater) which will be pumped from boreholes and which is currently unexploited. Of course, the appropriate study on the quantities that must be pumped must precede in order to have a stable, mainly in terms of quality (salinity), balance. The cost of brackish water desalination is about a fifth of that of seawater."
I believe that it is a mistake that we have attached so much importance to desalination when in my opinion other cheaper and more stable projects should have preceded it.
My continuous involvement until today for 50 years with water issues, both in Cyprus but mainly abroad, both in the design and construction sector, gave me the right (and still gives) the right and the obligation. In my articles in FILELEFTHEROS on 14/07/1991, on 27/03/1998 and on 20/04/2008 and in the magazine SELIDES on 17/01/1997 I had made specific proposals-suggestions with analyses for the solution of the water problem.
Some titles of my presentations as they were then (and with analyses then, without going into details now):
1. Management of our water resources. Creation of a National Water Council. Involvement of other persons with experience in water matters.
2. Exploitation of the Troodos massif.
3. Use of waste water.
4. Drilling in cities for parks, etc.
5. Rational irrigation-Irrigation treatment.
6. Karkotis River.
7. Water consciousness.
Thirty-four years later, some of the above have been done, some have been partially executed and others WILL be done (out of necessity...)
I had analyzed the above one by one at the time. Today I will repeat only (2) which concerns the "Exploitation of the Troodos massif" and groundwater in general.
Large underground quantities in Troodos
I wrote this in Fileleftheros on 14/07/1991 as well, without proceeding to geological definitions and analysis of hydrogeological methods for locating groundwater. I believe that the Troodos Mountains in general still have significant amounts of groundwater that have not been exploited. There are reserves to meet many needs for both water supply and irrigation. And the best way is to carry out a comprehensive, thorough hydrogeological study that covers the entire mountain range of the wider Troodos area. Such a study will last 2-3 years and will aim to calculate the underground reserves and identify suitable locations for drilling. Of course, it will also determine the rational exploitation of the underground aquifers (density of boreholes, critical pumping flows, etc.
On March 27, 1998, on the same issue (exploitation of the Troodos massif), I repeated to Fileleftheros:
The Troodos massif probably hides large amounts of water. My own claim is that there is great potential for further (rational and planned of course) exploitation of water from the wider area of the explosive rocks of Troodos by drilling and other boreholes in carefully selected locations. A number (around 50) can be made, they can be connected to central pipelines and activated in years of great drought to meet water supply needs, mainly in urban centers. A large part of the water that will be pumped will be recovered in the aquifers in the coming years when it will not be needed and the boreholes will be closed. On the other hand, water reserves in underground aquifers such as those of Troodos can withstand much longer than dam reserves in periods of prolonged drought.
I also mention some more excerpts from my interview published by Fileleftheros on July 14, 1991:
"In Hydrogeology, perhaps the most basic concept in my opinion is the water cycle and by extension the water balance. Water performs a perpetual cycle, a natural recycling.
More specifically:
Rainwater (or that which comes from the melting of ice or snow) after falling on the surface of the earth follows the following paths:
A quantity is flowing through rivers, etc. Towards the sea, another quantity penetrates through cracks, faults and generally permeable rocks to the interior of the earth creating the underground aquifers (those that we exploit by drilling boreholes), part enters the earth and comes out again in the form of springs and part again flows back to the sea. Another amount evaporates either through the phenomenon of plant transpiration or from the surface of the soil, seas, rivers or lakes and returns back to the atmosphere (evapotranspiration). There it will condense into clouds and under the right atmospheric conditions it will fall like rain or snow and will follow the same path again. This is the Water Cycle. It is a continuous, perpetual cycle. Therefore, because all of the above can be measured (rainfall, surface runoff to the sea, evaporation, transpiration, outflows from springs) and taking into account other factors (rocks, tectonics, vegetation cover, etc.) we can calculate the water balance and therefore the reserves of a hydrogeological basin.
In periods of prolonged drought, it is natural for the water of the springs to stop or decrease because their supply is limited or stopped. In these cases, of course, the waterlogging stops or decreases. However, the water does not cease to exist in the underground spaces that it previously occupied during the periods of rain or snowfall (after the snow melted).
So these reserves, which can be thousands of years old, can be exploited by drilling (even if the springs dry up). We will take advantage of the water in dry seasons and it will be replenished when it rains.
The great drought is a phenomenon that is not the first time nor the last to be observed. It is a phenomenon that occurs periodically in all countries of the world. For DROUGHT we can do little, to say nothing. However, it is up to us to minimize and eliminate the effects of LYPSIDRIA with the appropriate works and handling.
I said all of the above (as well as other suggestions) 30 years ago. Today I still believe that there are still great possibilities for the utilization of the groundwater of the wider area of the mountain massif of the explosive rocks of Troodos mainly (which are mostly very good quality waters and can be used as they are), but also of other areas, even if qualitatively they need some treatment, depending on their use.
In my opinion, no village located in the Troodos massif (or even nearby) should face issues of lack of water for water supply but also to a large extent for irrigation. With boreholes or with small local-regional dams.
Fresh water under the sea
In addition, I would like to testify as follows: In Nigeria, where I have been active for many years with the issue of "water", especially the underground, we have carried out, among other things, dozens of drillings in the coastal area of Lagos, even in the Sea (Atlantic Ocean) in areas that have been backfilled. We isolated the salt waters up to about 200 meters and pumped fresh water underneath. Boreholes of 230 to 300 meters with flows from 10 to 100m3/h, depending on the needs and specifications of each case. It's just that, like most Nigerian waters, they have elevated iron and low PH (Be Ha-acid). With simple treatment systems that we built, we removed the iron, raised the PH and under some other conditions the water became drinkable. Water at this depth has been trapped (petrified) for millions of years. This is a huge underground aquifer under the ocean. Since 1992, when we made the first such drillings, no substantial drop in level or flow has been observed until today, although hundreds of drillings have been (and are being done) because it is the main way of supplying water to these coastal areas where hundreds of thousands or even millions of people live.
I raise this as a reflection and suggestion because I believe that it is worth studying this case for Cyprus as well. Let's not rest on the very expensive, energy-intensive and with a high probability of future environmental impact, desalination.
*Geologist – Hydrogeologist
