The city of Ávila restores drinking water after four days without supply.

The city of Ávila (60,000 inhabitants) has restored its drinking water supply after more than four days without urban water service. Residents were unable to drink tap water or cook with it after construction work impacted the old infrastructure supplying the provincial capital. The water flow had high levels of manganese, unsuitable for human consumption, which meant that from Wednesday afternoon until midnight on Sunday, citizens had to rely on water jugs or bottles. In the initial days of this water crisis, the Military Emergency Unit (UME) was present to provide additional resources to help fix the pipes.

The affected pipeline is about 20 kilometers long and comes from the Serones reservoir. The disruption occurred because this connection has been in operation for about 45 years and is in need of improvement, which is why it has recently experienced failures and breakdowns that led to this incident. The City Council of Ávila (XÁvila) announced the return to normalcy late on Sunday, nearly four and a half days after it was reported on Wednesday at noon that the city’s water was not suitable for human consumption, either directly or through cooking.

However, it was still safe for personal hygiene or cleaning. The Municipal Water Service has been monitoring water quality during this period and has finally concluded that the water no longer contained high manganese levels. This mineral is usually present in the water, but at a lower concentration than what was recorded during these days in Ávila. This was due to the usual supply from the Serones reservoir being interrupted by construction and damage that required resorting to other reservoirs with manganese levels that exceeded safety limits.

The military deployment, with up to 13 personnel from the bases in León and Torrejón de Ardoz (Madrid), responded to the need to incorporate specialized teams to proceed as quickly as possible with repairs on the damaged pipelines, which have been in operation for 45 years and have repeatedly caused problems. Initial estimates after advising against drinking tap water this Wednesday suggested that regular supply would be restored over the weekend, but it ultimately occurred late on Sunday.

Due to the inability to use the Serones reservoir during this period because of the damaged infrastructure, water from Fuentes Claras and Becerril had to be used, from which the excessive manganese originated. City explanations emphasized the damages caused by construction in a system already in need of improvement and estimated that a complete renewal of this 45-year-old connection would require an investment of approximately 8.5 million euros.