Kazan — summer 2010

Here's a sign outside the entrance to my apartment building:

It reads:

Dear occupants, from 28 June through 19 July the hot water supply in your building will be disconnected as part of the pressure testing of the [city hot] water system.

Hot water is centrally produced in large Russian cities. It is piped to buildings to power both the building heaters and the hot water supply for showers and sinks. Since it is a matter of life and death to have good heat in the winter, summer is the only time they can do thorough maintenance on the system.

Every summer I have come to Russia (and this is my eighth trip) I have had the hot water turned off for half the trip or more. In fact, it is so common I didn't even think to blog about it till now. Just a bit more than a week, and theoretically we will have hot water again. Not that it really matters so much at the moment. It's so hot here that cold showers are welcome in the morning.