Break in Ciego de Ávila leaves more than 100,000 people without water

More than 100,000 people were left without water supply for over 48 hours in the city of Ciego de Ávila, due to a break in one of the main pipes carrying the precious liquid.

The breakdown occurred on the afternoon of May 24 in the 800-millimeter (mm) diameter pipeline located at the outlet of the Pumping Station of Tanque Apoyado, which supplies the Southern Zone of the city, according to a report from the official newspaper Invasor.

This break led to the service also being suspended in the Northern Zone, as the network is interconnected.

The mentioned report states that the arrangement ended at 9 p.m. on May 26th and the replaced pipe came from the CiegoPlast Pipe Factory.

Workers from the Hydraulic Works Maintenance and Rehabilitation Company of Cuito Cuanavale and the construction Small and Medium Enterprise Bécquer also contributed to the repair by replacing the damaged section of pipe through thermofusion welding.

Invasor highlights the work of those who worked on this break, who he says had "close to them, the highest political and government authorities of the province and the municipality."

The issue of water supply is one of the concerns that affect the daily life of Cubans.

Currently, due to power outages, at least 700,000 people do not receive water daily, as the hydraulic sector is the second largest consumer of electricity after the population demand, as reported by official sources.

Although the number of people who do not have daily access to water supply due to power outages is alarming, only half of the Cuban population receives the precious liquid consistently, while the rest do not due to various reasons, such as drought, lack of distribution network, leaks, corruption, among others.

Settlements like the one in Trinidad, located in the province of Sancti Spíritus, are exposed to corruption in the supply of drinking water.

A report by Escambray points out that, due to the lack of water, citizens are reporting irregularities in the management of the resource, ranging from keychains that manipulate the valves for their convenience, to water trucks that do not reach their destination and are sold for 3,000 or 5,000 pesos.

Another issue is water leaks, so common in the Cuban geography due to the poor quality of the pipes intended to transport water.

Due to this situation, recently, residents of the municipality of Manzanillo in the province of Granma, experienced hours of high stress due to a water leak that reached five meters and caused damage to nearby homes.

The incident was caused by a breakdown in the main conduit on Tomás Barrero Street between Martí and Mártires de Viet Nam, in the mentioned municipality.

Shared images show the large proportions of the water leak, which according to the publication left the neighbors "astonished" as they tried in vain to "contain the fury of the water."