Saturday morning with no water - a scenario Skopje residents know all too well. Much of the Centar municipality, as well as parts of Čair and Gazi Baba, will be left without water for nearly the whole day tomorrow due to repair works. The notice comes from the public utility „Vodovod i kanalizacija," with the usual wording that doesn't say much about how citizens are supposed to plan their day.

According to the announcement, the cut will last all day on June 20, with the cause being repairs to a fault on the Vardar embankment and on Krste Petkov Misirkov Boulevard. Multiple buildings, streets and neighborhoods are affected, and there will be reduced pressure or a complete cut at various locations across the city.

Breakdowns happen - that's part of maintaining any city network. The question isn't why there's a fault, but why the repairs almost always land at the moment when citizens can least manage around them, and why the notices arrive at the last minute, with few details on when exactly the water will be back.