Parts of the Karposh, Centar and Butel municipalities will be without water today. The reason - technical work on the main water network. At the same time, tomorrow parts of Bagdadska and Atinska streets in Skopje will be without water due to a connection on F-100mm pipes. Skopje and Ohrid today are dealing with the standard Balkan inconveniences.

The information itself is standard - it comes from the public utility a few hours in advance. But the question Skopjans ask every week is the same: why does the water network in a city of half a million people still need so many "technical interruptions" so often?

The answer - the infrastructure is old. Part of the piping dates from the 1960s. Reconstruction happens piece by piece, not systemically. Every time there is a burst or a new connection - the water gets cut off for an entire zone. It is an expensive, inefficient way to operate - but the pipes do not get replaced until they collapse on their own.

In Ohrid the situation is similar - several streets will be without water tomorrow due to servicing of "larger-profile" valves. When a tourist destination in April already has water supply problems - it means summer will be even more interesting.

For citizens, the workaround is simple - tanks at home, bottled water, and patience. For local governments - an obligation to ask for more infrastructure funding. But in the budget, the water network competes with asphalt, with "exhibitions on the square", with "digitalisation". And it always loses. Until the next burst.