Yekaterinburg authorities have set up five locations where residents can collect free drinking water, according to a report from 66.ru. The move comes after a major disruption to the city's water supply left many homes without running water.
The distribution points were organized in response to the emergency, the outlet reported. Residents affected by the outage can visit these sites to obtain water at no cost while repair work continues.
The water crisis began when the city's main utility, Vodokanal, suffered a sudden system failure. In an interview with URA.RU, the director of Vodokanal said the entire network collapsed within 30 minutes, leaving large parts of Yekaterinburg without water. The cause of the failure was not detailed in the reporting.
Local officials have been working to restore service since the incident. The mayor has given a timeline for when cold water is expected to return to household taps, according to E1.ru. Uralweb also reported that Vodokanal has issued its own estimate for when full service will be restored.
In the meantime, some residents have resorted to collecting water from public fountains, as noted by TagilCity. The situation has prompted widespread inconvenience across the city, with many people queuing at the free distribution points.
Authorities have not said how long the temporary water stations will remain open. The focus now is on completing repairs and bringing the network back online as quickly as possible. Residents are advised to follow official updates from Vodokanal and the city administration for the latest information on restoration efforts.
