This Monday some 200 thousand people lacked water in Havana and new service cuts are expected in the coming days, as announced Havana Tribune.
The official newspaper specified that in the crisis of the water supply The high number of breakdowns in pumping equipment caused by electrical discharges has had an influence above allto which is added to a lesser extent a decrease in reservoirs superficial of the province in the first 19 days of this month.
The aforementioned source assures that only in June did electrical storms in the capital cause 158 breakdowns in the water supply system, 74 of them in the last seven days.
Aguas de La Habana has even shared on Facebook images of the breakdowns in the electrical system of the pumping equipment that have affected the water supply in the capital in recent days.
Measures to stabilize water supply in Havana
The recovery of eight pumping equipment, the establishment of community water tanks where possible, the monitoring and maintenance of the infrastructure to try to reduce the damage caused by lightning and the use of wells were some of the measures announced this Monday. to face during July the affectations of the water supply in the capital of the country.
To this is added the arrival in Cuba in July of a dozen pumping machines that will stabilize the supply system.
Engineer Leonel Díaz Hernández, general director of the Havana Water Company (EAH), explained that although the province is one of those affected by the drought, the recent effects are due to damage to the infrastructure.
The most affected municipalities in recent weeks have been Playa, Marianao and La Lisa, territories that are supplied by the Ariguanabo system, whose pumping infrastructure has been the most damaged by electrical discharges. The residents of these municipalities receive the service on alternate days for eight hours, on average, but in the last hour the hours have been reduced due to the increase in breakdowns.
In the center of the city, the most affected have been the residents of Old Havana and Central Havana, although there have also been interruptions in areas of Plaza de la Revolución, Cerro and Diez de Octubre.
To a lesser extent, some communities of Boyeros and Arroyo Naranjo have been affected, mainly due to low pressure from the Cuenca Sur supply source.
Havana currently concentrates the largest number of people affected by the drought, with 48,239 inhabitants, of which 13,781 have had the delivery cycle extended, hours have been extended to another 30,548, and 3,910 are only receiving through pipes.
Paradoxically, Tribuna de La Habana announces that “western Cuba has benefited very little or nothing from the waters of recent days,” and hopes that the rains between now and November will help alleviate the crisis.
Meanwhile, a note published by Aguas de La Habana announced that this Thursday, June 29, there will be a lack of water between 6 am and 6 pm in some areas and districts of the municipalities of Plaza de la Revolución, Cerro, Centro Habana, Old Havana, Diez de Octubre and Boyeros “due to maintenance and repair work on the conductors and electrical lines that feed the supply source of Cuenca Sur.
As usual in these cases, Aguas de La Habana apologized to the users for the inconvenience caused and indicated that once the maintenance and repair work is finished, the water service will be gradually restored at normal hours.
So far this month, there have been dozens of water cuts announced by the Havana Water Company due to maintenance and repair work on the conductors and electrical lines that feed the capital’s supply sources.
Water cuts due to maintenance work or breakdowns are frequent in the capital, where the river networks are seriously deteriorated by so many years of overexploitation and the lack of adequate maintenance.
