THE EOA LIMASSOL SEES THE INACTIVE BOREHOLES - ACTION PLAN TO COVER A DEFICIT OF 10,000 CUBIC METERS PER DAY - Filenews 9/3 by Vassos Vassiliou
A hole of 10,000 cubic meters of water per day will be created in Limassol by the planned cuts of 10%, with the EOA rushing to identify inactive boreholes in order to pump water and limit shortages.
The president of the EOA Limassol, Mr. Yiannis Tsouloftas, clarifies to "F", that the process of utilizing the boreholes is difficult and time-consuming, because it requires strict quality controls and the construction of infrastructure for the transport of water to the network.
Mr. Tsouloftas "shows" the state services the situation in the water by indicating that the delay in the installation and operation of desalination plants resulted in "the necessary water being pumped from the Kouris dam".
As he explains, "the delay in the operation of the two desalination plants with a daily production of 20,000 cubic meters per day, for more than 6 months, resulted in the pumping of more than 4 million cubic meters of water from Kouris".
Regarding the water needs of Limassol for the summer season, Mr. Tsouloftas states that they amount to 90,000 cubic meters per day.
He also explains that in the area of Limassol there are the following water sources:
Existing Desalination Plants:
– Desalination of Episkopi: 36,000 cubic meters per day
– Desalination of Monastery (UAE): 12,000 cubic meters per day
– Desalination of Vasilikos EAC: diversion of 7,000 cubic meters to Limassol
In the installation / operation process are:
– Desalination of Kapsalos: 10,000 cubic meters per day, expected to be operational in April 2026
– Desalination of New Port: 10,000 cubic meters per day, expected to be operational in April 2026
Inactive Drilling in the Kouris aquifer: 5,000 cubic meters per day
"Total, 80 thousand per day. Therefore, there will be a deficit of 10,000 cubic meters per day."
The EDA Limassol has elaborated a water status management plan for the summer of 2026, which is based on three pillars: Increase of water reserves, reduction of losses and undisclosed leaks, awareness, information, reduction of consumption.
"In cooperation with the District Office of the WDD, we have identified inactive boreholes, mainly in the Kouris aquifer in the area of Episkopi, which we are checking and evaluating and preparing the required infrastructure for their utilization." With the utilization of the drillings in question, it is estimated that an amount of 5,000 cubic meters per day can be added to the city's water balance."
Mr. Tsouloftas also states that Limassol "is the city with the greatest dependence on weather conditions but also on water reserves in the dams because it is supplied with water mainly from the two dams of Kourris and Germasogeia, while the one small desalination plant in Episkopi covers less than half of the city's needs for the summer".
The plans initially involved the installation of three small desalination plants, with a capacity of 10,000 cubic meters per day each, "which we expected to operate in the summer of 2025".
At the same time, the LIMASSOL EOA is implementing an extensive program for the construction of new tanks, around the perimeter of the urban fabric, (Germasogeia, Agios Athanasios, Fasoula, Polemidia), "so that we can increase our own reserves in case the supply from the WDD decreases".
The spearhead of our second pillar is the use of intelligent technologies, says Mr. Tsouloftas, who explains that the process of installing 80,000 meters is underway, with the project to be completed in April 2026.
At the same time, operational adjustments were launched to reduce the pressures on the network by installing pressure regulators, reducing the area of the zones, i.e. the areas affected by a fault by installing more valves and increasing the number of fault detection crews.
At the same time, the projects for the replacement of old networks that have frequent failures are progressing and accelerating, and the number of crews dealing with the detection of faults and undisclosed leaks has also increased.
