Residents of Kirkenes in Sør-Varanger municipality, in Norway's far eastern Finnmark, were told on Tuesday to shut off every tap and stop all private water use, after a second leak on the main supply line in under a week left the town's high-level reservoir draining toward empty. The municipality warned Tuesday morning that consumption at current levels would exhaust the reservoir completely by 19:00 that day, before the main pipeline could be restored, according to NRK.
Deputy mayor Tore Fredrik Nilsen told NRK that the situation was severe enough that he would rather people not even brush their teeth. He said the water level was falling quickly and that once the reservoir was dry, there would be nothing left to draw on.
Why it matters
The leak has put Kirkenes hospital, the only hospital in eastern Finnmark, on red alert. Routine patient appointments have been cancelled and planned operations postponed. The nearest alternative hospitals are in Hammerfest and Tromsø, roughly 500 and 700 kilometres away respectively, NRK reports.
The municipality said the appeal to stop private consumption was meant literally: closing all taps was necessary to keep water flowing to care homes and doctors' offices until the main line is repaired. Later in the day the estimate was revised slightly, with Nilsen telling NRK that supplies now looked likely to last until around 20:00 or 20:30.
The episode has also drawn attention to the condition of Norway's water infrastructure. According to NRK, a report from industry body Norsk Vann estimates that Norwegian municipalities will need to invest more than NOK 200 billion in water and sewage pipes over the next 20 years, reflecting a substantial maintenance backlog.
Repairs flown in after midnight leak
The latest rupture occurred just before midnight on Sunday and was quickly traced to Sandnes, west of Langfjorden. The complication was that the necessary pipe components had to be flown in before the line could be fixed. The parts arrived on the morning flight on Tuesday, and repair work began shortly after 11:00.
By 12:35 NRK's reporter at the scene observed the pipe being tested cautiously. Nilsen said that if everything went as hoped, the population would have water back during the evening.
The first leak struck the border municipality late on Wednesday evening the previous week. It led to school closures and triggered red emergency status at Kirkenes hospital. The second breach late on Sunday placed the municipality in what NRK described as a very serious situation.
Nilsen told NRK that three plastic pipes cross the fjord and that all three are now damaged. One was being repaired on Tuesday, while the other two will be fixed later in November.
Emergency supplies and contingency measures
Shops in Kirkenes have ordered additional drinking water after existing stocks were cleared out. Nilsen said two collection points are in operation, one at Rundvannet and one at Garnisonen in Sør-Varanger near the canteen, and that both have been heavily used. He encouraged residents to keep fetching water for neighbours who are unable to get out themselves.
The municipality said staffing at its institutions has been increased to meet residents' needs. The fire service has added crew to its tanker truck, improving access to reserve firefighting water and its capacity to respond to incidents. Sør-Varanger said residents can be confident that extensive measures are in place to safeguard both fire safety and critical community functions.
Under an agreement with Avinor, the municipality can call on a reserve fire engine from the airport if more capacity is needed; that vehicle carries its own supply of extinguishing water. The Civil Defence has prepared to fill tankers from open water sources.
To keep Kirkenes hospital running, the fire service has set up a dedicated duty arrangement for refilling the hospital's reserve tank when required. The Civil Defence has established a pump watch and will ensure the reserve tank is topped up if necessary.
The police station in Kirkenes is closed to the public on Tuesday because of the shortage, police said.
What to watch: whether the repaired line holds pressure through the evening, and whether the reservoir can be refilled before the two remaining fjord pipes are fixed in November.
