2012 to be free of water cuts

A CONTINUOUS supply of water with no domestic cuts is likely to continue into 2012, authorities said yesterday.

This is due to the development of new desalination plants and the improvement of existing plants, according head of the Water Development Department, Sophocles Aletraris.

“Cypriot society, the economy and tourism will be secured under any circumstances and we will never live through the traumatic experience of water cuts again,” said Aletraris adding that this is due to the almost doubling in the cubic capacity of desalination plants in 2012, from 122,000 to 222,000 cubic metres.

This will cover the water needs of large urban areas and tourist centres, as well as industries that use drinking water in their production process.

According to Aletraris, with the completion of the plants that are underway, the water supply will be free from reliance on rainfall and weather conditions.

Socrates Metaxas, head of Limassol Water Board stressed that the country’s water needs would be covered because of the desalination plants, at least in the larger urban and suburban areas. “We all need to take into consideration how important it is to limit, as much as we can, the water that we waste in our homes, our garden, place of work and anywhere else,” said Metaxas.

The Department also assed the ongoing problem of flooding in cities whenever there is heavy rainfall, as well as the loss of large amounts of water and with the help of the various water boards has carried out a study for the evaluation of rain water in urban areas.

The findings of the study, which the Department plans to present to the Ministry of Agriculture, show that there is room to better utilise rain water.

Cultivating a water consciousness, however, is an uphill battle said Aletraris, despite the plethora of seminars, conferences, advertising films and lectures urging water consciousness.

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