FLOOD damage to a key water pipeline in the Campo de Cartagena area of Murcia has led to residents being told not to use tap water.
Around 100,000 people are affected after part of the New Cartagena Canal filled with mud following the floods caused by DANA Alice on Friday night.
The restriction could be in force for several more days.
READ MORE:
Drinking tap water is not recommended in San Pedro del Pinatar, San Javier, and Los Alcazares.
The same order applies to several hamlets and villages in the municipality of Torre Pacheco, such as El Jimenado, Roldan, Balsicas, Dolores de Pacheco, San Cayetano, Santa Rosalía, Las Cantandas, Las Barrientas, La Almazara, and Agrodolores.
The affected water is supplied by the Taibilla Canal Association(MCT) to many of the area’s municipalities.
The disruption is set continue for several days with residents told not to drink, cook, or shower with tap water as it falls below the minimum quality standards.
The MCT which supplies water to 80 municipalities in eastern Spain did fill up municipal reservoirs before the floods so that all towns in the Campo de Cartagena would have back up reserves.
But MCT president, Juan Cascales, told the La Verdad newspaper that consumption doubled over the weekend in the area due to mud removal from the affected streets and homes.
“We opted to notify the population and maintain the supply instead of cutting off the water,” although in some areas, reserves have already been depleted,· he said.
It’s not known when normal service will be resumed as the canal and all links to the reservoirs have to be cleaned and disinfected.
“Storage capacity is limited. Reserves were depleted more quickly due to the mudslides,” he added.
MCT technicians will carry out- from Monday- ‘more intensive’ treatments to ‘reverse the situation as soon as possible’.
Local mayors have appealed for people to be sensible over amounts of water bought from supermarkets and from authorised tankers that have appeared in streets.
Los Alcazares mayor Mario Perez Cerveza, said: “Rationalising drinking water is very important at this time.”
His San Javier counterpart, Mario Perez Cerveza, said that elderly residents or people with reduced mobility can call 112 to ask for water to be brought to their homes.
Click here to read more Murcia News from The Olive Press.
