DONETSK, July 04. /ITAR-TASS/. Authorities in eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk started saving drinking water supplies in the city, Donetsk mayor’s office said on Friday.

East Ukraine’s Donbass water-supplying company has cut water delivery to the city of Donetsk over a breakdown on Seversky Donets-Donbass canal and impossibility to hold repair and restoration works (in the military operation zone), the city mayor’s office said.

Cold water supplies will be made to Donetsk residents for five hours daily from 5pm to 10pm starting from Saturday and as long as damages are eliminated. Hot water supplies will be made from 5.30pm until 10pm local time.

In the rest of the day water supplies will be made in hydraulic control mode, but some disruptions in water delivery are possible.

Donetsk mayor’s office also noted that Donetsk fountains were working in closed water consumption cycle and use non-potable water.

A water pumping station at Seversky Donets-Donbass canal was damaged in shelling on July 2.

Donbass water utility is the largest enterprise in Ukrainian housing and utility sector which caters for 214 settlements in Donetsk Region. The utility delivers, purifies water and provides non-interrupted supplies of potable and non-potable water to settlements and enterprises in the region and treats sewage waste.

Seversky Donets-Donbass canal is the main water source in the city of Donetsk. It was built in the late fifties in the previous century. After reconstruction in 1979 the canal’s throughput capacity increased to 43 cubic metres of water per second and the canal flow speed reached around 0.8 meters per second.

Five dame lakes totalling 64 million cubic metres were created along the canal flow to provide for its uninterrupted operation in case of an emergency situation.