Greek water 'smells bad'

2008-07-16 17:08

Nicosia - A shipment of desperately needed water from Greece is to be withheld from direct distribution to ration-hit Cypriot households because of its strong smell, authorities said on Wednesday.

When the tanker arrived off the parched Mediterranean island last month, the water was of the highest quality but delays to infrastructure work have seen the precious cargo deteriorate.

Although suitable, the water will now be diverted to replenish the aquifer instead of being directly distributed to households through the mains "strictly as a precautionary measure", authorities said.

"There is limited deterioration of the water quality which is especially characterised by the smell," said a statement from the agriculture ministry.

It said the probable cause of the odour was the fact that the water had stayed motionless on the ship for more than two weeks. Eventually the water will reach households after going through the system naturally.

Things started to go wrong last week, when a 3.5m miscalculation on the final section of an undersea pipeline designed to receive the water deprived Cyprus of the badly-needed shipment.

Adjustments to the specially-built 1 320-m pipeline, which is linked to a land pipeline to the distribution centre, has caused the delay.

The drought-ravaged island is in desperate need of additional water supplies from Greece to replenish dwindling reserves.

A Cypriot shipping firm is to ferry a total of eight million cubic metres of water from Greece to help ease the holiday island's water crisis.

Long-term strategy

The entire deal will cost the government more than €40m but still meets only half of the island's estimated shortfall of 16 million cubic metres for this year.

The first ship - carrying 50 000 cubic metres - has been anchored off the southern port city of Limassol since June 30. A second tanker will not depart from Greece until the initial consignment has been unloaded. Unloading was expected to begin later on Wednesday.

Six tankers are involved in ferrying the water to Cyprus, with the transfer - totalling 200 shipments - expected to be completed by November.

Because of a two-year drought, most households on the eastern Mediterranean island have had water supplies reduced by a third to try to tackle the shortage.

The government is also looking to draw up a long-term strategy, including more desalination plants and increased output from the two existing ones.

Reservoirs in the government-controlled south of the divided island are now at just 6.7% of capacity, or 18.439 million cubic metres, a third of their level at the same time last year.

- AFP