The amount of water stored in dams throughout Cyprus exceeded 219 million cubic meters at the beginning of September, which corresponds to 75.4% of their capacity, while during the hydrological year 2021-2022 (from October 1, 2021 to September 30, 2022) water flows to the dams totaled 153 million 747 thousand cubic meters. Total hydrological year inflows rank this year as the 5th best since records began in 1987-1988.
In the largest water reservoir, Kouris, there were 80,770,000 m³, representing 70.2% of total capacity. Based on data provided to ‘’Entrepreneurial Limassol’’ by the Water Development Department in Limassol, during July the desalination plants of Larnaca and Dekelia produced water on average at 100% of their capacity, the Pafos plant at 96%, the Vassiliko plant at 79% and the one of Episkopi in Limassol at 51%. The desalination units produce monthly more than 5,686,000m³ and the entire amount of desalinated water is available for drinking water supply.
The Water Development Department allocated during the period from January to April 2022, approximately 2,000,000m³ of tertiary treatment recycled water, produced by the Sewerage Board's plant at Amathus, for the enrichment of the Akrotiri aquifer, in the Kouris delta Eliana Tofa, District Engineer of the Water Development Department in Limassol, told us that the Department promotes the use of tertiary treatment water for agricultural purposes, as it is a safe irrigation method that falls under the application of the Code of Good Agricultural Practices. She also emphasized that, at the same time, surface water is being saved from the dams, which is intended for drinking water supply purposes.
Ms. Tofa considers the utilization of the purified water that will be produced by the new Sewerage Board factory in Polemidia to be important for the water balance of Limassol, since it will immediately be included in the irrigation water distribution system in the area. This, second, Sewerage Board plant is expected to become operational within October and the water produced from it will be used for irrigation purposes in the surrounding area which is for the most part agricultural.
