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Excavators Return to Malešnica: “We’re Already Used to Living Without Hot Water”
🇭🇷 Croatia /Energy & Infrastructure

Excavators Return to Malešnica: “We’re Already Used to Living Without Hot Water”

From Večernji List · () Croatian

Translated from Croatian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Ongoing story
  • Repair work on Zagreb’s district heating network has left many Malešnica households without hot water until September 21, with thousands of residents affected.
  • Residents have adapted by heating water on stoves, using camping shower kits or taking cold showers, while roadworks create traffic and parking problems.
  • Residents support renewing the heating network, saying summer repairs are preferable to a winter failure that could disrupt heating.

Malešnica has been dug up for the second time this year, and residents say excavators have returned four or five times in recent years. The latest work is part of the renewal of Zagreb’s district heating network, and many households will remain without hot water until September 21.

This year alone, the neighborhood has been dug up for the second time, and we have construction work every summer. Excavators have come four or five times in the past few years. We already have experience living without hot water.

— Matija ŠimunovićA Malešnica resident described the repeated district heating works and the neighborhood’s adaptations.

The interruption affects streets including Ante Topić-Mimara, Ivane Brlić-Mažuranić, Zvonimira Furtingera, Drage Ivaniševića, Dubravka Ivančana, Janka Matka, Milivoja Matošeca, Prosenička and Donje Dolje. For two full days, the disruption covered the whole neighborhood as well as Gajnice and Stenjevec, affecting thousands of residents.

People have developed their own methods for coping. Retiree Marija Osmančić said she heats water on the stove and pours it over herself in the bathtub. Some residents have bought boilers or camping shower kits, while others have accepted cold showers. Matija Šimunović said the warm weather made the inconvenience easier to bear.

I heat it on the stove, it’s the simplest way. Then I go to the bathtub and pour it over myself.

— Marija OsmančićThe retiree explained how she manages during the hot-water interruption.

The work has also brought traffic and parking problems. Residents of neighboring Špansko faced similar disruption before its work ended on Tuesday. Even so, some Malešnica residents say the heating network needs to be renewed. Jasna Zirdum said it is better to carry out the work now than risk a winter pipe rupture that could leave people without heating.

Nobody has died from an occasional ice-cold shower. We’ll somehow survive two or three weeks.

— Mario ŠubićA resident played down the hardship of coping without hot water.

The project, run by HEP Toplinarstvo and partly funded by the European Union, replaced 40.8 kilometers of the city’s hot-water network during its first phase from 2020 to 2023. That phase cost 49.9 million euros, including 37.8 million euros in grants. The second phase began on May 1, 2024, and is scheduled to continue until January 1, 2027.

There is not much point in getting angry. It is better to do the work now than have a rupture in the middle of winter and be unable to heat our homes.

— Jasna ZirdumA resident said the summer disruption was preferable to a winter heating failure.
About this summary

Originally published by Večernji List in Croatian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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