water, as a problem.

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Thirsty Cyprus left three metres short of water supplies
9 hours ago

NICOSIA (AFP) — A 3.5-metre (10-foot) miscalculation with the final section of an undersea pipeline is depriving Cyprus of badly-needed water supplies shipped over from Greece.

Greek Cypriots on Monday were still awaiting the precious cargo to reach shore, a week after it arrived off Cyprus.

The specially-built 1,320-metre undersea pipeline falls 3.5 metres short of a land pipe which is to channel the water to a distribution centre, said the shipping company involved in the project.

The connecting pipe from the ship is not long enough after experts apparently miscalculated the length.

A red-faced Agriculture Minister Michalis Polynikis told state radio of his "surprise" over the latest snag because up until Sunday lunchtime he was confident water would be offloaded.

The drought-parched island is in desperate need of additional water supplies from Greece to replenish dwindling reserves, but it now has to wait until the problem is fixed.

A Cypriot shipping firm is to ferry a total of eight million cubic metres (280 million cubic feet) of water from Greece to help ease the holiday island's water crisis.

The entire deal will cost the government more than 40 million euros (62 million dollars) but still only meets half the island's estimated shortfall of 16 million cubic metres by the end of 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 is unloaded.

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 southern part of divided Cyprus are now at just 6.8 percent of capacity, or 18,730 million cubic metres, a third of the level of the same time last year.

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[bg_turk]

There was an interesting Al Jazeera report on the drought facing Cyprus recently:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAEqqxkabDc

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http://www.financialmirror.com/News/Cyprus_and_World_News/10492

...an even better article on the same incident.

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“Cyprus Collapse May Be Imminent!”

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Purified seawater pumped in north Cyprus

By Cemil Aybar in Northern Cyprus 25.JUL.08
Turkish Cypriot officials have announced that purified seawater is being provided to a village in the Famagusta district.

Officials said work to provide water from the Bafra Sea Water Purification Facility to the hotels in Bafra Region, which is 25 miles north of occupied Famagusta on the "panhandle", is continuing within the framework of a project launched earlier.

Purified water has been supplied to the Yarkoy village since June 16 as a first step of the project.

In a seperate development, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that Turkey plans to supply drinking water to northern Cyprus via a pipeline running 110 kilometres (70 miles) between its coast and the Mediterranean island.

The entire island is suffering from drought, with water cuts in place on both sides of the island.
- Copyright © Famagusta Gazette 2008

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http://www.famagusta-gazette.com/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=69&twindow=Default&mad=No&sdetail=4343&wpage=&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=&pform=&sc=2350&hn=famagusta-gazette&he=.com

Greek water finally flows into Cyprus pipes


Water from the Ocean Tankers has start flowing into the island's water pipes
By Philip Turner 27.JUL.08
Greek water from the Ocean Tankers vessel off the coast of Limassol port started flowing into water pipes at 1.30pm on Sunday, almost a month after it arrived in Cyprus.

It is expected to take more than 24 hours to pump the 24.000 cubic metres of the much-needed supplies from the vessel to the shore, from where it will flow to the Yermasoyia aquifer.

Following this process, water from the second Ocean Tankers ship will start flowing into the island's water pipes.

There were concerns that the water would no longer be fit to drink. However, on Friday, Supervising District engineer Sophocles Aletraris said that the water was being regularly monitored by the state laboratory while onbard the Ocean Tankers vessel, assuring consumers that they need not be concerned about its quality.

Last month, Cyprus and Greece signed an agreement for providing the transportation of eight million cubic meters of water to Cyprus, which this year is facing a serious problem of water shortage.

The first Ocean Tankers vessel arrived at Limassol port on July 1 but the pumping of water from the ship was delayed for several weeks due to the 1,400 metre pipeline connecting the tanker to the shore being 3.5 metres too short.
- Copyright © Famagusta Gazette 2008

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Smooth sailing for water transfer

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