(Reykjavik) Restoring hot water to southwest Iceland, whose supply was suspended following a pipe rupture after Thursday’s now-concluded volcanic eruption, could take up to a week, authorities warned on Saturday.
“We have to have an overview, because it is not only a question of reconnecting us (to the network) but we also have to fill the (hot water) tank, reach all the neighborhoods […]so we are talking about a week,” Tómas Már Sigurdsson, CEO of HS Orka, the operator of the Svartsengi geothermal power plant, said at a press conference.
With the civil protection services and the network distributor HS Veitur, HS Orka began on Saturday the laying of a new pipeline of around 600 meters to replace the one which was damaged by the lava flow on Friday and which deprives people of hot water 28,000 homes on the Reykjanes peninsula.
In Iceland, hot water from geothermal energy supplies 90% of residents with heating.
The affected pipe is located in the middle of the lava flow, “in the part where it is thickest, and it is therefore impossible to undertake repairs there”, civil protection had earlier indicated.
The Svartsengi geothermal power station, which supplies the region with water and electricity, is protected by earth fortifications and has not been affected.
REUTERS PHOTO
From Thursday, many residents rushed to specialized stores to buy small electric heaters.
Result: partial power cuts were noted Friday evening at dinner time, because the electrical distribution system, which is not designed for heating homes, was overheating.
Negative temperatures
The authorities have called for using these devices “sparingly” and only when necessary. They also insisted on the need not to open windows, to gather in small rooms and to use your fireplace if necessary.
The temperature in the region dropped to -7°C during the night and settled around -3°C during the day, under a beautiful winter sun.
A little further north, swimming pools in the capital have decided to open their facilities free of charge to residents of the peninsula, in particular to allow them to take advantage of the showers.
Occurring early Thursday morning about 40 km southwest of Reykjavík, the eruption is officially over, according to the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO).
Like the two previous ones, on December 18 and January 14, it took place near the town of Grindavík, whose 4,000 inhabitants were evacuated on November 11.
According to the IMO, however, lava could erupt again in the area soon, with GPS data suggesting the immediate resumption of swelling of the ground and therefore accumulation of magma.