Heraklion: a week without water at Mesampelies

Residents at Mesampelies in Heraklion say they have been left without water for around a week. According to a report in the newspaper Nea Kriti, residents of the area describe daily hardship, since the water supply is either cut off entirely or comes through at minimal pressure, with the result that the water does not reach the upper floors. As they report, the situation particularly affects households where elderly people and small children live, that is the groups most vulnerable to a lack of water and to the heat. Residents are asking for an immediate solution and, above all, for clear information on when the supply will be fully restored, so that they can organise their daily lives.

The high August temperatures are making the situation worse, both because consumption rises and because the lack of water for basic hygiene needs becomes more dangerous in heatwave conditions. Demand peaks during the summer months, when watering, tourist occupancy and the needs of the catering trade are added to increased domestic use, while at the same time losses in the old networks grow because of the pressure. In Heraklion’s water networks, parts of which were built decades ago, faults in pipelines and power cuts at pumping stations are among the most common causes of prolonged interruptions. In conditions of a prolonged cut, health services recommend storing water in clean, sealed containers and using bottled water for drinking and food preparation.

The issue is not an isolated one. In the neighbouring Municipality of Malevizi successive faults were recorded recently, with the pipeline at Rodia bursting and further leaks following, while in the city of Heraklion the water supply was for a time reduced to a trickle after a fault in the network. What these incidents have in common is the fragility of a system operating at the limits of its capacity during a peak period, with the result that every individual fault translates into a cut lasting several days for entire neighbourhoods rather than a few hours of disruption.

The Heraklion Municipal Water Supply and Sewerage Company has not announced the cause of this particular interruption at Mesampelies, nor a timetable for full restoration. Nor has it become known whether water tankers have been made available to cover residents’ needs in the meantime, a measure usually taken during prolonged interruptions. Residents say they will continue to seek answers from the competent services, while the matter is also expected to be raised through the local councils. The Mesampelies area lies on the southern edge of the Heraklion urban area and has seen significant residential expansion in recent years. The question of water sufficiency is a concern for the whole of Crete this year, since winter rainfall was limited and reservoir reserves are at lower levels than usual.