Rodia: power cuts are breaking the water network

Two water leaks in a period of less than 24 hours were recorded at Rodia in the Municipality of Malevizi. According to a report in the newspaper Nea Kriti, the first was found on the morning of Tuesday 18 August on the road towards Savvathiana and the second a few hours later on the road towards the settlement’s football ground. The cause, as those responsible explain, lies in the frequent power cuts: every time the electricity supply is interrupted, the water supply system stops working and, when the power returns, the abrupt rise in pressure strains the pipes and causes breaks at points already worn by time and by use.

The vice-chairman of the Malevizi municipal water company, Menelaos Skouloudis, said that the faults are being dealt with immediately and that so far no serious problems have arisen in the water supply to the settlements. As he explained, at points where faults recur frequently the utility proceeds with a complete replacement of that section of the network, rather than piecemeal repairs that prove temporary. The president of the community of Rodia, Yannis Ntoulakis, said that a study has been submitted to the Public Investment Programme for a total replacement of the network and that its approval is expected shortly. He added that the settlement’s reservoir also serves surrounding settlements, which places a further burden on the network.

The problem is not new. Nine months ago repair works were carried out on the Linoperamata - Kefalogianni pipeline, without the matter being definitively resolved. ‘If the village did not have desalination, we would have abandoned it,’ the community president said, describing the importance of the plant for the adequacy of water. At the same time, the community called on residents to limit consumption because of the water shortage and the heatwave, asking pool owners in particular to obtain water from outside the network. Similar pressure is being recorded in other areas of Heraklion too, such as Mesabelies, where residents report an interruption lasting several days. Desalination covers a significant part of the settlement’s needs, but its operation also depends on a stable supply of electricity.

The repair of the two leaks was completed by the water company’s crews, but the structural issue remains and is linked both to the age of the network and to the stability of the electricity supply. No timetable has been announced for the approval of the study submitted to the Public Investment Programme, nor the budget of the replacement project. Nor has it been made known whether the issue of the repeated power cuts in the area, which those responsible consider the root cause of the faults, has been raised with the grid operator DEDDIE. The previous incident was recorded when a pipeline burst at Rodia. The Municipality of Malevizi extends west of Heraklion and includes both seaside tourist settlements and mountain villages with an increased cost of transporting water.