A truck carrying water in Beirut. (Credit: Saïd Meallaoui/L'Orient-Le Jour/File photo)
BEIRUT — Water pumping stations in Metn will temporarily be supplied with electricity from the Bsalim power plant, after an accident last week at the Zouk Mosbeh plant led to ongoing water cutoffs in Metn and in Beirut's Achrafieh and Burj Abi Haydar neighborhoods, a high-ranking source at the Beirut and Mount Lebanon Water Establishment told L'Orient-Le Jour Monday.
The cuts occurred due to a halt in the electricity supply, which "affected the proper functioning of the pumping stations in Mechref, Naame, Damour, Jeita and Dbayeh," the source added.
State-run electricity provider Electricité du Liban (EDL) announced in a statement on Wednesday that a "major breakdown occurred in one of the transformers at the Zouk power plant. This failure led to the explosion of a transformer and caused significant damage to the plant."
"As a result of this breakdown, the electricity was cut off in the regions of Zouk Mikael, Zouk Mosbeh, Zouk al-Khrab, Jounieh, Sarba, Kaslik and at the water station in Dbayeh," the statement added.
"We have managed to temporarily restore the electricity supply from the Bsalim power plant," explained the source at the Water Establishment.
"The regions of the Metn, Achrafieh, and Bourj Abi Haydar will gradually receive water. We cannot provide it all at once because we need to gradually fill our pipelines, which are currently completely empty."
The source added that the new electricity supply was only a temporary measure. "I cannot say whether the water will be cut off again in the coming days. If the electricity is cut off again, the water will also be cut off."
Denial
The same source denied that a recent TikTok video, showing a building identified as the Dbayeh office of the Water Establishment in a disastrous state, was actually filmed at that location.
The footage appears to show floors, walls and ceilings covered in white mold, as well as pumps in poor condition. The TikTok user who posted the video included the following plea: "Those who are waiting for water to reach them should immediately consider buying a [privately supplied] water tank."
The water establishment source said they believed the video depicted the damaged Zouk Mosbeh power station rather than the Dbayeh water office. In a video call, the source, present at the Dbayeh office, presented live footage of what appeared to be a clean and functional facility.
In January, the Beirut and Mount Lebanon Water Establishment announced that tap water had been completely cut off in the Metn region and in Beirut due to a lack of electricity supply. These power cuts also affected the proper functioning of the pumping stations in Mechref, Naame, Damour, Jeita and Dbayeh.
