With a video featuring the “Water Cop” and starring AI, the Famagusta Water Authority is attempting to raise public awareness about water waste.
Read also: The “Water Cop”: Karousos’s Mysterious Teaser with a 10-Second Video
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From the studio of the “Alpha Kalimera” show, Famagusta Water Authority President Yiannis Karousos confirms that this is an AI-generated video aimed at informing the public.
“We have quite high rates of water loss. As part of a water conservation campaign being carried out by all Water Authorities, one of the steps we’ve decided to take is to communicate—but in a different way. It’s not about scolding people. The most important thing is to inform and raise awareness in a clever way so that everyone takes care. And it seems we’re succeeding particularly well with this short video.”
Mr. Karousos also states that after the teaser was released, he received messages from citizens asking him if positions for “water police” would be opened and what the pay scales would be.
When asked whether fines are being imposed under the law that makes the use of hoses illegal, Mr. Karousos replied that they are not imposing fines but are informing the public.
“We’ve achieved the 10% reduction that was our goal. It will be evident in the numbers. Everyone is being much more careful. We don’t issue warnings; that’s not our philosophy or policy. I don’t think giving a discount will solve the problem; it’s better to educate people. We’ve called quite a few people or issued warnings. And we see that people are essentially doing everything they can to conserve water.”
As for funding for smart meters, Mr. Karousos states that the Famagusta EOA will pay for them out of the pockets of Famagusta district taxpayers, because they cannot wait for the government to provide these funds.
“The longer we delay, the higher the cost. And if we reduce our losses by 50% through the installation of these smart meters, that amounts to 2 million over the years. By waiting year after year for the government to decide whether or not to grant us funding… We will not wait.”
He also mentions that they sent a letter to the President of the Republic, requesting that the EOA be included in the funding for outdated networks.
