Water shortage affects 10 percent of Cuban population

Water shortage affects 10 percent of Cuban population
Xinhua | June 10, 2012 16:51
By Agencies

Some 10 percent of the Cuban population are suffering from water supply
shortages and the country's capital city Havana is among the most affected.

According to a Saturday report by the Cuban state TV, 1.16 million
Cubans, with 808,000 of them in Havana, have to cope with insufficient
water supply daily.

Leakage from an aging pipeline network is a major cause for the supply
shortage, the report said, adding that some of the water supply lines
were built more than a century ago.

According to figures by Cuba's water sector regulator National Institute
of Hydraulic Resources (INRH), between 50 and 58 percent of water pumped
nationwide fails to reach its destination due to such leakages, and
another 22 percent is lost inside households.

The INRH officials said the institute is currently undertaking a
restoration program of the water supply networks in 11 cities across the
island nation.

The Cuban media have called for the "saving and rational use" of water,
saying such measures "constitute a large reservoir" amid grave
challenges from the climate change and drought in recent years.

Between 2004 and 2005, Cuba suffered the most severe drought in a
century, when the reservoir capacity decreased to nearly 27 percent and
over 1.5 million people had to be supplied with water tankers.

Cuban scientists warned that drought will not cease affecting the
country despite the rainy periods, as the island is in the same latitude
as world's largest desert of Sahara.

The Cuban authorities said to cope with drought requires very large
investment since it is expensive to build canals, improve the aqueducts
and renovate reservoirs.

http://www.globaltimes.cn/NEWS/tabid/99/ID/713946/Water-shortage-affects-10-percent-of-Cuban-population.aspx