Originally posted by Tuomio
Boroda, our capitalistic fools have built piping _network_, which means that if one piece of it is taken down for inspection, it doesent mean that our capitol will be without hot water.
Ie. couple of years back they had to reinforce the main fresh water supply tunnels. Only difference consumers noticed was the slight change in the taste of the water as they switched to backup supply. Oh and our central heating and tap water is 2 separate systems, guess thats why i dont eat 2 grams of rust drinking it as i did in St.Petersburg. 
Well, I entered this stupid thread just to tell some ignorant people about how the things here really are.
Central heating and hot water are separate systems everywhere. Leningrad has some problems with piping, in some districts it was made in Khruschev's times, and it's really rusty... Maybe because of a condition of water - it's too soft. I had bat times getting used to tap water in Moscow, my body got accustomed to some rust
Before mass-construction home building (mid-60s) you could get a small live fish out of your tap...
Helsinki is maybe 10-15 times smaller then Moscow. And here we don't have hot water turned off everywhere at the same time. BTW, they turned it on 3 days before schedule in my house, and I already had guests who came to wash
We have a monopoly on such things as heating and water supply, a heritage from Soviet times. I am sure they can do all the nessesary things in 3 days instead of 3 weeks, but it's the way it goes here
Another funny thing: they never turn off hot water in American embassy. But in Cuban or Bulgarian embassies they turn it off
