A six-pack on one hand, a six-pack on the other. Eighteen liters of bottled water are been carrying home by a senior resident of Thessaloniki. Tap water comes only drop by drop – if at all. Basic needs can be covered only by the use of bottled water.
Without water for second day. Supermarket supplies of bottled water running out, cases of price gouging reported pic.twitter.com/OO1miEFAHr
— Teacher Dude (@teacherdude) March 29, 2018
Mini market owners told media they hardly manage to meet the increased demand on water bottle. “We keep ordering bottled water from our supplier, the moment the bottles are here, they are sold out.”
For the fourth consecutive day large parts of households and businesses in Thessaloniki remain without tap water due to the damage on one of the main water pipelines supplying the second largest city in Greece. Forty percent of the businesses and household of the one million inhabitants city are reportedly without water.
New business opportunity for street vendors to meet the water demands.
As restoration works continue, the Water Company of Thessaloniki EYATH announced on Friday, it estimates that the water supply will gradually return on Saturday and not on Friday afternoon as originally thought.
A video given to media showing the repair works. But the residents are angry, complain about the bad maintenance of the system and demand resignations.
Dozens of schools in the city center and the broader area are closed on Friday due to the water problem, some hospitals operate only their emergency departments.
At the same time, the local Fire Service has have supplied with water two public hospitals and three private clinics.
Despite the diffuclt situation, local confront the situation also with humor
Δύσκολες ώρες για τους Θεσσαλονικείς.. #ΕΥΑΘ #SKG pic.twitter.com/A6s3VF4Jjg
— Souko (@souko_news) March 29, 2018
Some wrote on Twitter: “Can you imagine what happens if Schaeuble finds out we take a bath in bottled water?”