Chile prepares to cut water supply in as frontal system hits

Officials are considering cutting off water supply in the Metropolitan Region to prevent water shortage. The Metropolitan Region has been consuming water from the water reserve since Thursday. A decision will be made by Friday, 8 p.m, June 23.

Jessica López, minister for the Public Works, said an eventual water cut off would affect 34 communes in the Metropolitan Region. Claudio Orrego, governor of the Metropolitan Region, said that the region has been consuming water from the water reserve since Thursday. The Region is on a Yellow Alert, and evacuations have been carried out in other areas of the country.

Manuel Monsalve, minister of interior and public safety, said the frontal system caused a high level of turbidity in the water, and several plants of drinking water in the Metropolitan Region had stopped working. Turbidity is a measurement of how clear or cloudy water is. The cloudier the water, the higher its turbidity.

Officials said that the rain will continue until Saturday, and water reserves are expected to finish Saturday as well. Aguas Andinas, a water supply company, informed officials on June 23 that approximately 63 percent of the water reserve remained.

“We have half of the front system left. We started to consume the water from the pools of Pirque yesterday at 17:30,” Orrego said on Friday. “I would be prudent, I would call for calm, but also to be alert.”

Various regions

The continuous rain for the past few days has caused eight regions of the country to flood, suspension of classes, and a cut-off of water and electricity, between the regions of Valparaíso and Los Ríos.

Residents between the regions of O’Higgins and Maule have also been evacuated due to the rain, which caused minor and major damages to homes, CNN Chile reported.

The 34 communes that may be affected by the water cut off:

1. Cerrillos
2. Cerro Navia
3. Conchalí
4. El Bosque
5. Estación central
6. Huechuraba
7. Independencia
8. La Cisterna
9. La Florida
10. La Granja
11. La Pintana
12. La Reina
13. Las Condes
14. Lo Prado
15. Macul
16. Maipú
17. Ñuñoa
18. Pedro Aguirre Cerda
19. Peñalolén
20. Pirque
21. Providencia
22. Pudahuel
23. Puente Alto
24. Quilicura
25. Quinta Normal
26. Recoleta
27. Renca
28. San Bernardo
29. San Joaquín
30. San Jose de Maipo
31. San Miguel
32. San Ramón
33. Santiago
34. Vitacura

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Chongyang Zhang

Chongyang Zhang is pursuing an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master’s program in journalism, media and globalisation. His interest lies in the relations among the United States, Latin America and China. He is currently doing an exchange semester at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile.