On summer nights in Icod de los Vinos, the taps run dry. Supply cuts, which are becoming commonplace at this time, leave thousands of residents without running water between 11:00 PM and 6:00 AM. What was once an automatic gesture — turning on the tap to fill a glass or have a shower — now requires foresight, buckets, and, in many homes, pots to heat water.
The municipality has already experienced 18 interruptions from July to early August, one every two days. The City Council has been forced to suspend the service each night to ensure that during the day the population can have access to water.
This measure will remain in place in the coming days due to the increase in potable water consumption during the summer period. A situation that is exacerbated by high temperatures, deficiencies in the municipal network, and falling levels in reservoirs, particularly in the higher areas of the municipality. Given this reality, the council has opted to take urgent measures to ensure basic supply and prioritise water use for the entire population.
The problems in the system have ended up affecting all 18 reservoirs in the municipality, with particular impact on the La Candelaria reservoir. The outdated network, with deficiencies accumulated over the years, loses around 60% of water in an entire cycle, resulting in the volume of water consumed by residents in Icod exceeding what enters the storage facilities.
Others Affected
María Angélica Guillermo, a resident of Icod de los Vinos, is no longer surprised when, suddenly, no water comes from the tap. However, she believes that the cuts should rotate throughout the municipality: “It’s always the same streets, and the whole municipality should contribute equally.”
One aspect that bothers her the most is that often there is no advance notice. “Sometimes it’s turned off at a time when the offices are already closed, and there’s no time to make a complaint.”
Others affected, like Isabel Ruiz (a fictitious name to protect her identity), have noticed that the water pressure has decreased “little by little”. “The pipes in the building where I live are very old and are going to explode if this continues,” she asserts.
For her family, these cuts have become a headache due to her husband’s working hours. Notably, he comes home from work at 10:30 PM and leaves at 5:00 AM, therefore he can’t access water even to wash himself.
Ruiz ‘escapes’ thanks to a 20-litre drinking water filter that has allowed her to cover the basics, however, for other tasks requiring more water usage, such as showering, she has to heat water in a pot, “the old-fashioned way.”
The Problems Continue
The problems are not only due to the lack of water, but sometimes also when it returns. This is explained by Sara Jimenez (a fictitious name to protect her identity), who reports that when the supply returns, the water arrives brown and aerated. The last supply cut occurred on Sunday, August 10 at 3:00 PM. As she explains, it was without prior notice, and “on top of that in the hottest hours of the day”.
In contrast, Juan José Afonso has not noticed significant problems, but considers the cuts necessary to improve the situation. “At least they’re at night,” he notes. For Afonso, it is essential that people become aware of their water usage, as he criticises that some neighbours leave the shower running for more than ten minutes.
