Milos suffers due to untapped potential and poor handling
Despite heavy winter rain, the people of Milos are having another dry summer. «There was a lot of water but it ended up in the sea,» Mayor Giorgos Tsainis told Kathimerini. «We have no reservoirs or dams. The winter storms resulted in nothing but problems, which we were unable to exploit,» he said. At least the rainfall improved the quality of the water, which for some years had been salinated because of too much drilling. An island with a considerable tourism industry, Milos continues to depend to a great extent on mainland Greece for its water supplies. A ship docks in the port of Adamanta every two days bringing 2,000 cubic meters of water. The island’s wells contribute another 500-600 cubic meters. For many years, the local authorities have been looking at desalination as a solution, but nothing has been done yet. Milos is known for its geothermal potential (deposits of very hot water, about 100C) that could be used for energy to power a desalination plant, considerably reducing operating costs. «Unfortunately, this potential has remained untapped because of poor handling,» said Tsainis. «But with the new draft law, geothermal power has been included in the renewable sources of energy and so it will be easier to find a sponsor for the project. We hope that soon we will get our desalination plant.» «An area that wants to develop its tourism industry has to have water,» said the mayor. «At the moment we are at the mercy of the water vendors. We want permanent solutions. We don’t want to have to keep going round the ministries with cap in hand.»
