“Only those residents who receive it by gravity will have water,” says an employee.
By 14ymedio
HAVANA TIMES — Aguas de La Habana will interrupt pumping the capital’s water supply for the next 48 hours, at least. “Only those who receive it by gravity will have water,” reveals a knowledgeable source who asked to remain anonymous. An employee confirms it, referring to the city’s tallest building, which houses the Iberostar Selection La Habana Hotel: “Anything that depends on motors, including Tower K, is useless.”
Less than a year ago, the supply in that area where the hotel is located—the heart of El Vedado—had been strengthened by the expansion of the Marino–Palatino pipeline, precisely to provide better service to the hotels located there. That is of little use in the current energy crisis, without electricity to run the machines that pump water above street level.
The provincial company has not made any official announcement, but messages circulated on its Telegram group make the supply cuts caused by the pumping interruption evident. This Wednesday, the Farriol, Majagua, and Rincón supply sources were shut down due to a lack of electricity starting at three in the afternoon.
“That drop—and never better said—will be the one that makes the cup overflow,” predicts the employee. “There will be outbursts; that’s what people need to finally explode.”
As a result, several neighborhoods in the municipality of Boyeros are affected; the South Basin, which supplies most municipalities in the capital, including Plaza de la Revolución—where El Vedado is located—Centro Habana, and Old Havana; the Ariguanabo Tank, which supplies Lisa, Playa, and Marianao; and the University of Computer Sciences.
The two Cuatro Caminos units, which provide water to Habana del Este, Guanabacoa, and Cotorro, have also not been operating since 1:30 pm. Many other neighborhoods in Boyeros were left without water starting at nine in the morning due to the interruption of operations at the Meireles Viejo supply source because of a leak.
Yesterday at one in the afternoon, pumping from the Santa María del Rosario system—Aguas de La Habana did not specify what the “operations” consisted of—was interrupted, affecting supply to areas of Cotorro. Likewise, the pump at Tower 19 was shut down, affecting neighborhoods in San Miguel del Padrón, Guanabacoa, Regla, and Diez de Octubre starting at 6:30 pm.
Meanwhile, numerous municipalities suffered supply cuts of up to five hours.
In areas such as Nuevo Vedado, with many tall buildings, the news reads like a preview of the crisis to come. “Right now we have the cistern full, and that gives us enough to pump up to two and a half tanks like the one on top of the building,” the manager of one of these concrete blocks built in the 1980s told this newspaper. “In other words, just enough for two days, until they restore the pumping service.” If the outage lasts even a little longer, he fears, “then we have a big problem.”
The serious problem the manager refers to is the impossibility of carrying water to the upper floors amid the energy crisis that often paralyzes the elevators. “By the stairs, beyond the seventh floor, it’s almost impossible, so we’ll have to hope Aguas de La Habana solves the problem in time,” he concludes.
First published in Spanish by 14ymedio and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.
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