‘Networks will burst if tested’: Omsk director on apartment cold

Residents of Omsk have been constantly complaining about cold apartments and frequent accidents on heating networks this winter. According to Sergey Karpov, director of the management company «Your Home», who has worked in the housing and utilities sector for over 30 years, the problem lies in the catastrophic state of the communications, which haven«t been repaired for years.

‘The networks are old, there are many bursts, underheating occurs, plus the chambers are flooded with water everywhere — this is heat loss,’ explains Karpov.

He gave an example: on Moskovskaya Street there is an intersection that the management company calls «Titanic». There, due to constant leaks, two pipes work «like a steam locomotive», and all the thermal chambers steam around the clock.

‘For just one building, the emergency situation hasn«t been resolved for five years — since 2021. At best, water is pumped out of the chamber, and that only helps for a month.’

The management company, which services 66 buildings, 65 of which are connected to the networks of «Teplovaya Kompaniya» (Heat Company), operates in a constant state of emergency, admits Karpov.

‘After every shutdown to fix an accident, the management company employees have to go around the buildings at night, flush the risers, and restart the system. Due to dampness and moisture in the basements, the problems worsen.’

According to him, in recent years, there has been almost no major repair of heating mains. Everything comes down to spot patching. Regular letters and even lawsuits with the resource-supplying organization yield no results — in response, the phrase ‘due to the lack of technical capabilities’ is given.

‘For several years, «Teplovaya Kompaniya» (Heat Company) has not been testing the networks. If before they used to flush them, now they do nothing, because if they conduct tests, their networks will burst, and we will be completely without heating, without water. The situation is especially critical at Moskovka-2, where the state of the networks is very deplorable.’

Earlier, a resident of the Novoomsky settlement in Omsk District contacted the editorial office of NGS55.RU and said that they have been without heating for several years.