On April 12, the pipes that supply water to the Colombian capital began to be closed in shifts and areas due to the crisis generated in its reservoirs, which as a result of the drought caused by the El Niño phenomenon They were practically exhausted. A month after this decision, residents of the town of Kennedy, which corresponds to shift eight, spoke with the Voice of Americahow they have been adapting to this new reality.
Angie Castrillón, a resident of this town located south-west of Bogotá, talks about how they had to manage in their daily activities to reduce consumption by adopting plans to prepare their meals, wash the dishes and reuse the water used in the washing machine for the lavatory.
“When we wash the dishes, we collect the water to put it in a container and take it to the toilet. Likewise, we recycle the water from the washing machine in some buckets and after that we take it to the toilet and apply two glasses of varsol so that the water does not take on a bad smell,” he explains to the VOA Castrillon.
Rosa Díaz, a merchant in the sector, says that since the measure was implemented, they have been finding ways to save water. “As long as you are prepared, it is not difficult. It’s up to you to be well prepared, with your buckets or even your pots. If necessary, it is necessary until they order us because as it is a law, we must comply and if necessary continue with the measure.”
Others, for their part, like Norma Ocampo, say that their food establishment has had a “bit of a hard time” because they cannot afford to collect the water that their business needs in tanks due to the regulations on the minimum number of cubic meters. that they can consume since rationing began.
“We have had to go to another place to bring in buckets or containers that one has in reserve. I say that they should withdraw the measure because it has been raining, so I suppose that the reservoirs are already at the level that is needed,” she comments.
The mayor of the city Carlos Fernando Gañan, who took stock one month after the implementation of the measure, stated that the balance has been positive; However, he announced that the water cut will continue until mid-May, when an assessment of the situation of the reservoirs will be made again.
“We need to reduce consumption further so that we can stop the fall in reservoir levels while it rains. We are on the right track, but obviously we have to say that there is still a long way to go, there is a long way to go before we can completely overcome this crisis,” says Galán, who in his daily reports urges citizens to continue saving water and changing their consumption habits. .
Although the rains are beginning to return and fall on the reservoirs, for Fernando Gómez Paiba, researcher and specialist in sustainable development and the environment, the city and the territory of the Bogotá savanna must rethink the use of the water system to diversify its supply in order not to depend on a single source.
“I believe that precisely to talk about the proposals on how we have to mitigate this rationing problem, we have to talk about the fact that it is a structural problem, so if we want to attack the structural problem, we do have to do some rethinking work, planning of the territory and the water system,” Gómez assures the VOA.
According to data from the National Interconnected Energy System, the level of the reservoirs has reached a level of 38% of their capacities, however, the objective of the Mayor’s Office of Bogotá is that the reservoirs that provide water to the city are above the 70% of the level by the end of 2024. In addition, according to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Colombia is the country with the highest per capita water consumption in the world with 1,988 liters annually.
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