Due to the cold wave that brought record-breaking cold weather across the country this week, water pipes burst and leaked water in various places in Ishikawa Prefecture, and as of 10:00 am on the 27th, more than 9,000 homes in four municipalities were cut off. Schools are also closed, and the impact is spreading.

Although the record-breaking cold weather due to the cold wave has eased, water pipes have burst and leaked water in Ishikawa Prefecture one after another, causing water outages in various places.



When NHK interviewed each municipality in the prefecture, as of 10:00 am on the 27th, about 9,200 households in Kahoku City, Wajima City, Hakui City, and Hodatsushimizu Town had a water outage.



Of these, in Kahoku City, from around 9:30 pm on the 26th, residents in the Nanatsuka and Osaki districts began receiving inquiries about "no water", and as of the morning of the 27th, about 5,300 households in the two districts were cut off. It means that



According to the city, the water reservoir of the "distribution reservoir" that temporarily stores water from the water supply is empty and it is not possible to supply water, so the water supply station opened by the city will continue to supply water on the morning of the 27th. People who wanted it came one after another.



Even at the house of Masahide Nitta (79), who lives alone in the Nanatsuka area, water stopped coming out around 9:00 pm on the 26th, and the toilet, bath, and washbasin became unusable.



Mr. Nitta said, "I never thought that there would be no water in the morning. I use the toilet outside, and when I wash my hands, I spend my time rubbing my hands with the snow." rice field.



Kahoku City has decided to temporarily close two elementary schools and one junior high school in the Nanatsuka area.

Temporary closures at elementary and junior high schools

In Houdatsushimizu Town, as of the 26th, three elementary schools and one junior high school in the town have decided to temporarily close as of the 26th, due to a series of water leaks from water pipes and the possibility of water outages in the future.



In addition, Hikawa Elementary School, which is different from these four schools, took measures to temporarily close the school by letting the children who came to school go home on the morning of the 27th, saying that the water flow was not good.



The town's board of education said that the reason for the temporary school closure was that each school was preparing school lunches and that it would affect children's hand washing and toilets.



Superintendent Takashi Hosoe said, "This is the first time that the school has been closed due to water leakage, etc., and currently, teachers and contractors are checking for water leakage, etc. We would like to respond so that normal school life can be resumed at the beginning of the week."

Why do water outages occur

After the record-breaking cold weather has eased, water outages are occurring one after another in various places.

Water outages are caused by frozen water pipes.



According to the Kanazawa City Enterprise Bureau, the water in the water pipes will freeze if the freezing cold continues.



When water freezes, it expands, causing the pipe to burst.

Then, when the temperature rises, the ice in the water pipe melts and the water leaks from the place where it bursts.



In the water storage tank of the water supply, water is supplied to each household by supplying water with a pump, but if there is a lot of water leakage from the water pipe, the water will disappear from the tank, and if this continues for a long time , there is a high possibility of water outages.

Wajima City Can't provide school lunches due to water outage

In Wajima City, Ishikawa Prefecture, where about 2,900 households are out of water, due to the water outage in the school lunch kitchen, nine elementary and junior high schools will not be able to provide lunch on the 27th.



Each school is taking measures such as closing the school or canceling classes in the morning.