12 August 2026
In Yekaterinburg, normal water supply has been unable to be restored since August 7 due to a utility failure and flooding. According to e1.ru , last Friday, cold water was shut off in seven districts of the city, which is home to over 1.5 million people (Yekaterinburg has eight districts in total), due to damage to water mains. Anton Gusev, general director of the local Vodokanal, stated that the emergency was due to the aftermath of the flood. “The source water is dirty, and to prevent it from flowing into the city, a decision was made to shut it off and clean the filters,” he stated. The prosecutor’s office announced an investigation, but judging by footage from local residents, tap water in homes is still bright brown.
As of Tuesday, thousands of Yekaterinburg residents were still without water, but now without hot water, despite Vodokanal’s promise to restore it on August 10th. According to Energosbyt, this is a necessary measure due to previous cold water outages. Hot water was promised to be restored by August 14th. However, on Wednesday, Yekaterinburg Mayor Alexei Orlov announced that more than half of the city’s residential buildings are without hot water and will not begin to supply apartments until “next week” as Vodokanal is still carrying out preparatory work. Authorities in Tyumen have been unable to resolve a similar problem for a month, having organized clean water delivery following widespread complaints from residents about tap water smelling of feces.
As of August 12, in Tyumen and the surrounding area, where a state of emergency was recently declared due to the dangerously high water level of the Tura River and where more than 870,000 people live, water is being delivered to the Kalininsky, Vostochny, Tsentralny, and Leninsky districts of the city, as well as to surrounding settlements.
The press service of Yekaterinburg’s Vodokanal noted that they cannot yet provide a timeline for the restoration of hot water supply. Water supply will be restored once the system’s operating conditions are stabilized and the source water quality is sufficient, the organization stated.
https://ru.themoscowtimes.com/2026/08/12/-44-a203324
“In Yekaterinburg, water supply interruptions have begun following Tyumen, where water has been delivered due to a “fecal smell” in the tap water”
That “water” coming out of the faucet in image above is what we in the West would call sewage. I wouldn’t trust ruskie tap water no matter how they “filter” it.
If the water is brown and smells fecal, it’s shit.
Poetic justice.