Manteigas began implementing nightly water shutoffs.

It seems like there is a "water police" going on in the Portuguese town of Manteigas. When two critical tanks that provide water to one-third of the city raised an alarm, the authorities found the solution by closing the valves at night. There is both a disaster brought on by the storm and a mysterious consumption boom of unknown origin. Let's take a closer look at what is happening in Manteigas and what kind of a process awaits the people of the region. Valves Close at Night: Restriction Begins Indefinitely For those living north of the town of Manteigas, the nights will be troublesome for a while. The Carvalheira and Picoto warehouses, two of the seven that feed the entire town, are literally at capacity. Since these two warehouses serve approximately 35% of the population, the crisis directly hits a serious segment. The municipality and water company teams decided to cut off the water flow every night between 22:00 and 06:00 in the morning in order to recover the water level in the Carvalheira dam. Unfortunately, there is no clear end date for this application, which started on Tuesday night; So the process is indefinite for now. How Did the Crisis Come to This Point? The incident is not due to a single reason, it is a whole series of misfortunes. Landslide in February: It all actually started with that heavy storm in February. The landslide in the Carvalheira forest completely destroyed the two main water sources feeding the dam. Unexplained Consumption Explosion: Municipal teams managed the situation well until mid-summer and managed to keep warehouses at 95% occupancy towards the end of July. But whatever happened happened after that. Water consumption, which was an average of 388 thousand liters per day in August last year, suddenly jumped to 520 thousand liters this year. Suspicion of Invisible Leak: Mayor Flávio Massano says that this huge increase of 34% cannot be explained only by lost resources. The teams are currently investigating whether there are large undetected water leaks in the lines. "It Was Not An Easy Decision" Making a statement, Mayor Massano underlines that the night restriction is not an arbitrary step. They had no choice but to store water overnight to prevent the entire town from going completely without water during the day. Currently, teams from Águas do Vale do Tejo and the regional water company APAL are patrolling the field, trying to find breaks and leaks in the system. In fact, local people were asked to immediately report any suspicious puddles or flows they see on the streets. Be Careful with the Water Flowing from the Tap in the Morning There is also a practical detail to consider during and after the deductions are implemented. When the valves are opened again at 06:00 in the morning, pressure fluctuations may occur in the lines. Additionally, due to movement in the tanks, cloudy or colored water may flow from the taps for a short time. Authorities state that this situation is temporary and the color will return to normal after the water flows for a few minutes. It looks like the nights will be without water for a while in Manteigas until the teams find the leaks and lower the dam level to a safe point. Source material: Executive Digest's reference to news sources in the northern region. Natasha Donn Journalist of the Portuguese Resident newspaper