Alternative sources to obtain drinking water are emerging in Havana with businesses selling purified or well water amid an energy crisis. Cuba reconnected its national electrical grid and restored power to the majority of the capital Havana by late on Sunday, energy officials said, nearly two days after an island-wide outage knocked out power to 10 million people. - REUTERS
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00:00Alternative drinking water is becoming a lucrative business as Cuba grapples with an energy crisis.
00:08As the pipe service run by the state sometimes dwindles from a lack of fuel, innovators are
00:13selling purified or well water.
00:17In the capital Havana, vendors were selling to restaurants, the diplomatic sector and
00:22foreign companies, but their client base has expanded to residents who are suffering from
00:26a lack of power to boil water or who have an inconsistent water supply.
00:32According to local media, nearly 80% of the population receives drinking water through
00:36networks managed by water and sewerage companies, but locals say its numerous leaks, the breakage
00:43of pumping equipment and constant power outages impact the service.
00:48Here's resident Sergio Ruiz.
00:50The water, as you see, we have containers, so it's stored in containers.
00:55From there we supply the bottles.
00:57We put them in the fridge and we drink it.
00:59The family drinks it.
01:00The brackish water, as you see, we do not have it now because there are problems with
01:04the turbine, but we always have problems with fresh water.
01:08There are always problems.
01:10Sometimes we go up to 15 days without it and it's fundamental that people need fresh water.
01:16Late on Sunday, two days after an island-wide outage knocked out power to millions of people,
01:22Cuba reconnected its national electrical grid and restored power to the majority of
01:27the capital.
01:29The grid collapsed on Friday evening after a transmission line at a substation in Havana
01:34shorted.
01:36It marked the Caribbean island's fourth nationwide blackout since October, once again paralyzing
01:42commerce.
01:43Cuba's oil-fired power plants, already obsolete and struggling, reached a fuel crisis last
01:48year as oil imports dwindled.
01:50Many across the island had already been experiencing daily blackouts that reached 20 hours or more.
01:57Despite restoration, officials said on Sunday they were generating just one-third of typical
02:02daily energy demand, leaving many residents still in the dark.
02:06Cuba blames a Cold War-era U.S. trade embargo and fresh restrictions from U.S. President
02:11Donald Trump, who recently tightened sanctions on the communist-run government and vowed
02:16to restore a tough policy toward the longtime U.S. foe.