Power Failures Disrupt Water Distribution to Interior Regions

Amidst a sweltering heat wave, a number of Tunisia’s eastern and southern regions are also facing chronic water shortages.

From the Nabeul governorate, situated on Tunisia’s northern coast, through the country’s southern and interior regions – including Kasserine, Gafsa, Tozeur, Kebili, Kef, and Beja -  residents have been deprived of their daily access to water, particularly at hours of peak consumption, which has lead to incidents of social unrest.

When Tunisia Live contacted officials from the National Company of Water Distribution and Exploitation (SONEDE), the issue was attributed to a combination of technical issues and a general lack of water resources.

According to Mohamed Amine, the director of water exploitation in SONEDE’s Gafsa branch, the chief problem facing Gafsa, located in the heart of Tunisia’s desiccated mining basin, is that demand for water exceeds supplier capacities. Water is typically drawn from aquifers beneath the surface, which have become increasingly depleted and incapable of providing  sufficient water to sate the thirst of the residents of Gafsa. Additionally, with an absence of electricity, SONEDE is subsequently unable to extract and distribute of water, exacerbating the already existing shortages.

“We’ve had very little precipitation this winter, which is why our groundwater reserves are no longer rich. If electricity is cut-off, water is subsequently cut-off [because the pumps extracting the water from the ground cannot function]. We do not have any reservoirs to survive an electrical failure,” Amine stated.

Amine explained that a number of Tunisia’s other governorates receive their water from reserves held at dams, and do not suffer from challenges related to water supplies to the same extent as Gafsa. “In other words, the other governorates do not lack of water as we do,” he said.

However, Amine stated that recent electrical failures nevertheless pose a threat to the distribution of water in these regions as well, as SONEDE’s pumps require electricity to extract water from the dams.

According to a representative from the National Company of Electricity and Gas Production (STEG) – the institution responsible for the distribution of gas and electricity throughout the country – who wished to remain anonymous, the demand for electricity has grown beyond the company’s expectations due to the heat wave. The representative explained that this unexpected rise in demand has limited the company’s capacity to produce energy at the required levels.

“The growth rate of consumption usually increases by 5% annually, while this year consumption has risen by 12%. Under such circumstances we have not been able to react effectively to this surprising growth in demand,” he stated.

However, the STEG representative explained that, as a company providing a vital service, SONEDE is supposed to have emergency generators ready in the event that electricity is cut-off.

The external communications manager at SONEDE explained that the emergency generators only have the capacity to service small and medium-consumption areas. However, the regions where the electrical supply has been disrupted are very high consumption zones.

“The Nabeul electrical grid, where STEG is facing major challenges, is under intense pressure imposed by very high levels of consumption. Consequently, the emergency generators will be incapable of replacing STEG’s production in the event of an emergency,” he stated.