Water supplies are gradually returning to normal across Lanzarote today following the major power failure that brought the island's electricity system down on Saturday, but disruption is continuing in several areas.
The blackout stopped water production and forced the island's water operator to carry out emergency manoeuvres across the distribution network to protect the reserves remaining in its storage facilities.
Aguas de Lanzarote y La Graciosa said this morning that there had been a widespread recovery of the system, although some areas would need several more hours before normal pressure and flow were restored.
Arrecife's supply has been normalised, with pressure expected to return progressively to normal levels during the day.
Tías is also back in service, while some temporary low-pressure problems may remain in parts of San Bartolomé as the network stabilises.
Problems remain in Yaiza and Teguise
Recovery has been slower in Yaiza, where the reopening of the network originally planned for Saturday night was delayed because of the exceptional problems affecting the system. Operations to restore the supply were under way this morning.
Teguise remains the municipality with the largest number of areas awaiting full restoration.
Work is continuing in Tao, Tiagua, Soo, Muñique, Nazaret and Teguise, with pressure expected to increase progressively. Recovery in Nazaret has been particularly slow.
La Caleta de Famara has had a supply since Saturday afternoon, although with reduced flow.
Los Valles, Teseguite and El Mojón remained pending this morning, with supplies expected to be reopened during the afternoon provided the recovery of the overall system allows it.
All areas of Haría have been open since Saturday night, although occasional variations may continue while the network stabilises.
Water reserves remain very low
Despite desalination plants returning to production, reserves in the main Zonzamas storage tanks remain very tight.
The water company has warned that further temporary measures could be required in some areas from midday if necessary to allow reservoir levels to recover.
Residents, businesses and visitors are therefore being asked to use water responsibly while the system returns to normal.
The problems follow Saturday's island-wide electricity failure, which began at around 5.45am and affected approximately 73,600 people. Playa Blanca was largely protected from the outage because of its electricity connection with Fuerteventura.
