Novoshakhtinsk: Water Flows in Streets but Not from Taps

If water is flowing on the street, it means there«s none in the tap — that»s how residents of Novoshakhtinsk joke. According to them, water supply is cut off regularly. Most of the time, water comes with low pressure. How residents cope with this problem was learned on site by a correspondent from 161.RU.

«A Sea from the City to the Vegetable Garden»

Novoshakhtinsk is a city of one hundred thousand people in the east of Rostov Region. It is divided into several settlements. The city often appears in official reports due to water outages. Even the residents themselves perceive its absence as normal.

— There is water, but it comes poorly, with weak pressure. It«s almost always like that, — says Ivan, a resident of the Western district of Novoshakhtinsk.

He lives in an apartment building and is already accustomed to the problems. As we walk through the snowdrifts of a quiet private sector, Ivan points us to the road. Walking on it is dangerous. Water that burst from the pipes has frozen it into ice.

— No one says anything. So we go to stores and buy water. To cook food, you have to wait a long time for water to fill the pot, — says Ivan.

While we are talking, his friend Anna approaches. She lives on Veselaya Street. According to Anna, pipes with water often burst there.

— We have endless bursts. Only accidents and accidents, — complains the local resident.

Her house is located in a ravine, and after pipe bursts, all the water quickly fills the road.

— Water comes into the yards, already entering the basements. Our whole Novoshakhtinsk lives like this, — continues Anna.

According to her, taxi drivers do not take orders from her street because they risk getting stuck in puddles.

— They say: «We won»t go there. Walk on foot.« Because traffic police then pull out cars from there. In summer, there»s a sea from the city to the vegetable garden. People walk through others« vegetable gardens to avoid this puddle, — say Anna and Ivan.

Only an Outdoor Toilet and a Fortunate Location Save the Day

Dilapidated houses of the private sector give way to well-kept homes, near which neat flower beds are laid out. The yard is tended by local resident Svetlana. She is clearing snow but pauses to chat with us.

— The bursts are crazy. There are accidents, but not like in Gukovo, of course, — says Svetlana.

Her house is located in a lowland. Svetlana considers this an advantage.

— We have a fortunate position. My sister lives on a neighboring street higher up. They have no water in the morning, but to us, it still comes a little, like a thread. But still, the water heater doesn«t turn on, dishes can»t be washed. That«s how we survive, — says Svetlana.

Her family constantly keeps a supply of water in case of bursts. The situation is saved by the fact that there is an outdoor toilet.

Svetlana shows us into the distance, at neighboring houses. According to her, recently there was also a water burst there. It flooded the street. According to the resident, the burst was not fixed, but water pressure was reduced so that it «flowed in a thin stream.»

— They cunningly do this so that water doesn«t run through all the streets. But then there»s less water in the houses too. Water flows through the streets, but there«s none in the taps. Pressure is lost, — says the resident.

She recalls that several years ago, old metal water pipes on her street were replaced with plastic ones.

— We suffered endlessly from these bursts. Endlessly no pressure, and this new line wasn«t connected. I don»t know why. And we«re not the only ones. I know that it was like this in several settlements of Novoshakhtinsk. A new plastic pipe lies, but we»re on the old one. Then these pipes were connected, but again water runs in the same place. I remember, in some year, they dug up the same pipe three times in a month due to bursts. Everything was in water, — says Svetlana.

To the weak water pressure, Svetlana has also already gotten used.

— The pressure is weaker than usual. I think if they gave stronger pressure, it would burst again and flood the streets. Generally, this water runs throughout the city, — says the resident.

Residents do not turn to authorities for help or with complaints. According to them, there is no reaction from officials anyway.

— My sister has a pumping station in the basement. Now water has burst again, it«s running. They call the water utility daily and say: »Water has to go somewhere. It will go into the basement. The pumping station will become unusable.« But no reaction, although water has been running there for more than a month, — concludes Svetlana.

Another resident of the private sector, Igor Malikov, complains that during water outages, water delivery is allegedly not organized.

— They only give formal replies. At least they should bring water. If there«s no water for a long time, I as a disabled person won»t be able to go for it. <…> We have the same problem with water as in other settlements of the city. I already don«t know what to do to get water faster, — complains Malikov.

At Least Not Like in Gukovo

Residents of Novoshakhtinsk tell us that their water supply problems are not as serious as in neighboring Gukovo. In January, this city was without water supply for almost a week due to a water main accident. Some residents still complain about weak water pressure. During the communal disaster, people from Gukovo went to Novoshakhtinsk for drinking water because bottles in local stores were quickly snatched up. It got to the point that water was ordered through marketplaces.

About how the city of Gukovo survived the water supply collapse and why residents joke that snow will soon run out there, read in the extensive report by correspondent Alina Zayarnaya of 161.RU.