Debar Ran Dry at Noon, and the Blame Was Pinned on the Citizen With a Hose in the Garden

Debar has springs of high-quality drinking water - and yet it ran dry in the middle of the day. When saving depends solely on the citizen, usually something else is quietly breaking.

The public utility „Standard” has introduced multi-hour water restrictions in Debar and the surrounding area, in force from July 1. The reason, according to the utility, is excessive daily consumption draining the system - among other things, using drinking water to irrigate gardens and to wash yards and surfaces. The restrictions are staggered by neighborhood: Dolno Kosovrasti (with the spa complex) goes without water from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., while Venec 1, Venec 2, Taranik and Ćernanica from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

The utility said the measure will stay in force until the situation improves and appealed for rational use of water from the Rosoki springs, which it describes as high-quality drinking water. The appeal is understandable - but also too convenient. Because the entire weight of the solution falls on the citizen's back: you don't irrigate, you don't wash the yard, you save. And what does the system do before the water even reaches your tap?

That's the question we rarely hear when summer brings restrictions. Debar isn't alone - every summer across Macedonia the same picture repeats: high temperatures, a spike in consumption and emergency measures, as if every year the heat arrives by surprise. The problem is that for decades many municipalities have taken no real care of drinking-water losses in their own networks. The water leaking through burst pipes underground never shows up in the appeals - there the culprit is always just the citizen with a hose in the garden.

The restriction will last until the weather cools, and then everyone will forget about it - until next summer. The question that remains is whether anyone even measures the losses in the system, or whether it's simply easier to switch on the same schedule and the same appeal every summer. Because water that springs up as high-quality but doesn't reach the tap at noon isn't the consumer's problem - it's the problem of those who were supposed to maintain the network for years.