Third electrical failure in four days causes more water cuts across Lanzarote

Lanzarote's fragile water infrastructure has suffered another major setback after an electrical failure disrupted desalination and distribution systems, marking the third power-related incident affecting water production in just four days.

The latest failure occurred at approximately 4:30pm on Tuesday, causing production to stop at the Lanzarote III and Lanzarote V desalination plants as well as several production lines at Janubio.

The interruption once again reduced the amount of drinking water available for distribution across the island.

It follows the major island-wide power failure at the weekend which brought Lanzarote's water production and pumping infrastructure to a standstill.

Water cuts brought forward

Because desalination plants cannot simply return immediately to full production once electricity is restored, the latest failure had knock-on effects across the distribution network.

Aguas de Lanzarote y La Graciosa brought forward several water cuts that had originally been scheduled to begin at midnight.

Supplies in Teguise, Tahíche, Nazaret and Mácher were instead suspended from 6:00pm.

An hour later, supplies were completely closed in the municipalities of Tías and San Bartolomé, along with Tao, Soo, Muñique, Haría, Punta Mujeres, Arrieta and Mala.

Scheduled interruptions affecting Tao, Soo, Muñique, Tinajo town and El Cuchillo were also maintained.

Residents were warned that further interruptions, reduced pressure and other supply problems could occur depending on water-production levels and the amount remaining in storage tanks.

Third incident in four days

The latest disruption has increased concerns about the dependence of Lanzarote's water system on a reliable electricity supply.

Virtually all of the island's drinking water is produced through desalination, making electricity essential not only for producing freshwater but also for pumping it through the distribution network.

The weekend's major power outage completely paralysed the hydraulic system.

Although production and distribution were subsequently restored, another incident involving an electrical cable caused further disruption at the Lanzarote IV desalination plant.

Tuesday's failure has now brought the number of significant electrical incidents affecting water production to three in four days.

Water Consortium demands explanations

The Lanzarote and La Graciosa Water Consortium has now formally raised the issue with the Canary Islands Government.

Its manager, Fernando Fernández, confirmed that a complaint has been submitted to the regional Directorate General for Energy, requesting that the electricity operators explain why the repeated incidents have occurred.

The issue has moved beyond the immediate inconvenience of individual water cuts and raised broader questions about the resilience of two of Lanzarote's most important essential services: electricity and drinking-water production.

Technical teams are continuing to monitor production, reservoir levels and the distribution network while affected facilities are stabilised.

Residents have again been asked to use water responsibly and avoid unnecessary consumption while the system recovers.