Canal Gestión has announced that the inspection work on the state of the underwater pipeline that supplies drinking water to La Graciosa "has come to an end", and that this Wednesday they have detected and repaired "two important breakdowns in the pipeline", which caused the loss of 20 cubic meters of water per hour.
The company maintains that these two important fissures, caused as a consequence "of the poor condition of the network", were responsible "for all the flow that is sent daily to the neighboring island being lost at sea, that is to say about 20 cubic meters every hour, which amounts to about 480 cubic meters daily". "That is why the deposits were practically at zero and the supply was inactive since last Sunday", they add from Canal Gestión.
In this way, the company announces that "the repair work on this serious incident that has left the residents of Graciosa without supply is practically completed". However, it insists that "it is not ruled out that more breakages and similar, or even worse, episodes will occur again, given the poor condition of this transport network." Thus, it affirms that the specialist divers have also conveyed this to them, "confirming that it is reaching the end of its useful life",
Restoration of the service
Canal Gestión has announced that in the next few hours it will proceed "to fill the tanks to later begin loading the Caleta de Sebo distribution network", so that the company hopes to restore the supply "gradually". And it is that despite assuring that the breakdowns are repaired and resolved, "the pipe needs to take enough pressure to carry the flow to the tanks, that these take the appropriate levels and that the secondary pipes, those that lead to the homes, also load with the pressure that is required."
Meanwhile, Canal Gestión Lanzarote maintains that "it will keep the tank with a capacity of 15,000 liters and the tank in charge of refilling it continuously, depending on the demand and needs of the residents" operational. For the moment, Canal Gestión affirms that during this Tuesday, "the consumption of drinking water through this system has been about 10,000 liters."
However, and as a preventive measure, the company has made the decision to leave the tank/container in La Graciosa until at least next week, until ensuring that the service works with total normality.
Data of the pipeline
Canal Gestión points out that the underwater pipeline that connects and transports drinking water to La Graciosa was installed in the early 90s. "It is a conduit with more than 25 years of life that measures 1,170 meters long, and 90 mm in diameter, and is located 11 meters deep", he details.
The company adds that this pipeline is the only possible way to bring drinking water to the island, around 500 cubic meters per day, and points out that the usual consumption of La Graciosa at this time of year is around 480 cubic meters.
"For years, the need to undertake an urgent renovation has been alerted and indicated due to the state in which it is, which translates into numerous breakages throughout the year. In fact, in these six months of 2022 it has suffered about six breakdowns, practically one per month", adds the company.