Cyprus-Forum.com

[raymanuva]

joanna, i was going to mention that. So much water goes to waste, today roads were flooded. But from the other point of view: will it be possible to collect that water with minimal expenses and energy used? I guess city planners should have implemented rain water drainage collecting points right when they implemented the sewage system. But again, i dont think this will be cheap and thats why this is the reason for not doing it. I deal with architectural plans from UK on daily basis, and on most of the plans all drainage pipes lead to a single point which then connects to an underground drainage system.
Imagine how much water could be collected in a single day, even for industrial or agricultural purposes, still.

Anyway, hoping and praying for rain is useless, the government should take actions instead of pointing fingers on regular people. The demand is constantly growing and no plans were implemented for ages.

[Bananiot]

When the Agriculture Minister in Klerides's government, Costas Themistocleous, started a programme to dissociate the available water from the rainfall with the building of disalination plants that would for ever solve this problem, he was mocked and ridiculed by the coalition parties. In Limassol, their supporters carried a donkey around that had a huge label on it that read: The Minister of Agriculture. Thus, they managed, by popular demand, to scrap the plans for a desalination unit in Limassol.

We have the government we deserve. We get what we deserve.

[Kikapu]

Have they ever made studies to see wheather or nor it would be possible to lay pipes from Turkey to Cyprus, to bring water from there. The present politcal situation should not stand in the way, if it is possible of such venture. Business is business, as they say.

[G.Man]

That rain episode is, to coin a phrase, just a drop in a reservoir. I measured 10.8 mm today and it has now stopped raining. Our annual average here is ~400 mm, so we need a month of days like that just to reach average (we already have had ~150 mm from the autumnal rains), but we also have to make up for our profligacy of the past two years and this would need as much again to fill the reservoirs and start topping up the water tables (it would require 10 years of good rain with minimal extraction to really restore them and 20-30 years to restore those where salt water has infiltrated).

The real problem is that Cyprus has no real hydrological policy and never has had. It is aberrant that our ground is like Emmental cheese, full of illicit wells and boreholes. Even more aberrant is that if you want one legally, the Government will actually subsidise the cost of drilling it. With sensible water management, we would have more than enough natural water for everything. With the anarchy that reigns today, we can do nothing.

I was the lead co-author of Water in Cyprus. Read it and you will find many ways how water may be wasted or saved. It was written in 1998, before I settled here but after I had bought my house. A few things have changed since, but the general lines are still valid.

Tourism: the Government has always ensured adequate supplies to the littoral hotels. However, tourists are here for ~20,000,000 person-days. Cypriots are here for 275,000,000 person-days. It is doubtful if tourists consume more than 10% of the water, less than the losses through the ancient distribution system.

What is the situation on waste water in cyprus?

Why dont the govt invest in more desalination plants?

Years ago all the waste water went into septic tanks, surely the areas with mains drainage now should be more efficient?

[zebedee]

We're packing up right now - should I bring my water butt? How do you keep stored water clean ?
Lisa
(awaiting comments about large butts no doubt!)

[devil]

What is the situation on waste water in cyprus?

Why dont the govt invest in more desalination plants?

Years ago all the waste water went into septic tanks, surely the areas with mains drainage now should be more efficient?

There are sewage treatment plants serving the major cities but virtually none elsewhere. Most village dwellers still rely on septic tanks. AFAIK, little of the water from the sewage plants is recycled and certainly even less into potable water.

Desalination plants are expensive in both capital and running costs, produces water with relatively high sodium ion content (not recommended for hypertensive patients) and is very energy-demanding, with concomitant CO2 emissions.

Anecdote: The village where I live has recently put in a water drainage system along an estimated 3 km of roads. Let's say the roads average 4½ m wide. This provides a captive area of about 13,500 m², receiving an average annual rainfall of 400 mm. 35% of this water will be lost (evaporation, spray of passing vehicles etc.), but this still leaves about 3,500 m3. What happens to this water which would be adequate for the irrigation of the village's ornamental plant beds? It is channelled into a dry river bed and the village's plants are irrigated from the mains supply. Why can't people think?