A power failure in Lanzarote, Spain knocked desalination plants offline, threatening the local drinking water supply.
Here’s what to know
According to Canarian Weekly, on Oct. 3, roughly 51,700 customers lost power after a 5:44 a.m. incident involving the 66-kilovolt network at the Mácher substation in Tías. By 5:48 a.m., another failure at the San Bartolomé and Punta Grande substations had caused a generation loss, pushing the total number affected to about 73,600.
About 39,000 customers still lacked electricity at 6:47 a.m., even as crews worked to restore power. Playa Blanca, which is supplied through Fuerteventura, was lucky enough to avoid outages.
The grid failure also caused desalination plants serving Lanzarote and La Graciosa to shut down, interrupting drinking-water output. Some areas were further warned of reduced pressure and temporary cutoffs.
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More background
Even after electricity began returning, water output could not rebound immediately because the desalination plants had to complete startup and stabilization procedures before ramping back toward normal production.
While the plants were being restored to operation, water crews adjusted the distribution system to stretch existing reserves and manage stored supplies.
Because the blackout was disrupting essential services, the Canary Islands Government activated a PLATECA pre-alert for Lanzarote at 7:15 a.m. Officials did not immediately identify the original cause of the electrical failure as work continued on the power and water systems.
What can be done?
Authorities used the emergency declaration to coordinate with essential-service operators and monitor the outage’s impact. In the meantime, residents and businesses were urged to conserve water and avoid nonessential use until production recovered.
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Where can I learn more?
Related coverage has documented other major outages.
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