The Kouklia desalination plant, destroyed in a fire last December, is expected to resume operations as early as September 20, Paphos district governor Charalambos Pittokopitis said on Thursday.

In June, agriculture ministry permanent secretary Andreas Gregoriou had announced that the plant, with a capacity of 15,000 cubic metres of water per day, would be ready by August.

Pittokopitis told the Cyprus News Agency that September will also see the operation of the Potima desalination plant, which can produce 5,000 cubic metres per day, with output expected to double in October.

“The prolonged drought of the past years and the destruction of Paphos’ desalination plant in Kouklia last December, continue to create quite a few difficulties in our efforts to secure the continuous supply of water to consumers in the city and district of Paphos,” Pittokopitis pointed out.

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He added that since last week, Paphos has been receiving 1,000 cubic metres of water per day from the first mobile unit installed at Potima, with a second unit expected in the coming days.

By October, Paphos is set to receive 15,000 cubic metres daily from Kouklia and 12,000 from Potima’s one large and two smaller units.

Currently, lower Paphos’ main water source, from Kouklia to Peyia, is the Asprokremmos water distillation plant, which has a capacity of 30,000 cubic metres per day.

Pittokopitis said this figure will be reduced to 15,000 cubic metres in October.

Reserves at Asprokremmos dam are already low, with the reservoir holding around 8 million cubic metres of water.

“The assurances from the water development department are that this quantity is more than enough to get through the crucial period until the desalination units are operational and winter rainfall begins,” Pittokopitis said.

However, he pointed out that Paphos was still at a “critical point” regarding water management and expressed “reserved optimism” that the situation was manageable.

“We must all be very careful and frugal when it comes to using water, because even the last drop is useful,” he said.