Cold showers raise blood pressure across Russia

By Wolfgang Jung Aug 26, 2011, 2:06 GMT

Moscow - Showering with cold water remains part and parcel of summer life in Russia, as municipal authorities keep switching off hot water in different administrative districts to upgrade ageing pipes.

The maintenance work on a water supply system that in many cases dates back to the Stalinist era usually continues throughout the summer, and affects cities from Kaliningrad to Kamchatka.

The ongoing inconvenience caused by the measure has Russians and tourists alike shaking their heads in disbelief.

'We won World War II and can fly into space, but don't seem capable of having a functioning plumbing system,' student Andrei moans.

'No warm water? That's barbaric,' tourist Katie Webster complains in an online comment after her visit to Moscow. The Australian booked a private room, but quickly found out that often, only luxury hotels have their own hot water system in the Russian capital.

Thousands of households in Moscow, which is home to more than 10 million people, still live in conditions prevalent in the former Russian command economy by sharing a communal water pipe system.

Residents of entire streets have to shower with cold water for two weeks at a time between May and September, as the Moscow Unified Energy Company (MOEK) begins rounds of switching off hot water in different areas to carry out hydraulic tests, repair work and replacement of pipelines.

Experts say the measures are necessary as heavy metals and microbes have been finding their way into the water supply through rusted and ruptured pipes.

The MOEK has modernised 4,000 kilometres of pipes since 2005 - but there are still another 6,000 kilometres in need of renovation.

The option of buying a 300-euro (430-dollar) water boiler makes little financial sense to most Russians, because it would only be in use for two weeks a year, pensioner Galina Ustvolskaya says.

Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin, who took office in autumn 2010, has reduced the time Muscovites have to do without hot water to 10 days. His critics, however, say the move is politically motivated to increase his popularity.

The feeling of an ongoing state of emergency regarding the hot water supply - and the associated personal hygiene - annoys many Russians.

'Can you imagine what it smells like in a Moscow metro carriage without air conditioning, when virtually nobody is showering?' shop assistant Irina asks.

Other former Soviet republics are also suffering from the problems caused by decrepit water systems. In Ukraine, for example, members of the women's movement Femen protested by swimming in a well in the capital Kiev.

If tourists travelling to the country for the Euro 2012 football championships, which Ukraine is co-hosting with Poland, have to do without warm water, this will be a huge embarrassment to the country, the bikini-clad activists warned.

The time in the summer when Russians have to live without running warm water - dubbed the 'Cold War' by bloggers - has made many Muscovites rediscover the traditional Banya.

Many commuters now visit these public steam baths on their way to work for a quick shower, but also for socializing. Banyas have long been an intricate part of Russian culture and families often bathe collectively.

Flirting has also increased during the periods without hot water.

'Have you got warm water?' is one of the most popular chat-up lines of the summer from Saint Petersburg to Vladivostok.

There are even special internet forums where single people offer showers. Others never leave home without a bottle of shower gel and shampoo, just in case they are lucky enough to be offered the opportunity of an unexpected amorous adventure.