Nairobi estates face 24-hour water disruption due to vandalism

Several estates in Nairobi including South C, Kawangware and Parklands will experience a 24-hour water supply interruption.

In a notice on Wednesday, Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company said the interruption is due to vandalism of the Sasumua dam water treatment pipeline to Kabete Water Works.

"Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company Ltd. would like to inform its esteemed customers of a service shutdown that will interrupt water supply in parts of the City due to vandalism of the Sasumua dam water treatment pipeline to Kabete Water Works at Kanunga area near Nazareth Hospital in Kiambu on the night of August 27, 2024," reads the notice.

Nairobi Water Company however revealed that engineers had moved to the site and repairs commenced immediately, with repairs expected to take 24 hours from Wednesday, August 28, 2024, at 10 am.

The supply will be reinstated by August 29, 2024, at noon.

In order to reduce the impact of water supply reduction to the west of Uhuru highway, the water company revealed it would rationalise the water supply from Ngethu to Gigiri reservoirs.

This is with a view to increasing the pumping more water from Gigiri to Kabete Water Reservoirs.

"We shall also alleviate the water supply failure by supplying water to schools, hospitals among other public institutions by water tankers," NCWSC said.

Affected areas

Other areas to be affected include along Limuru road: Ngara area, Aga Khan Hospital, University of Nairobi - School of Law and City Park Area, Gigiri, United Nation- Gigiri and Muthaiga.

Areas along James Gichuru Road, Langata Road and Waiyaki Way, Riverside, Westlands, Lavington, Kilimani and Kileleshwa will also be affected.

Other areas to be affected include areas along Naivasha Road and Kikuyu Road, Kawangware, Riruta/Satellite, Uthiru and Ndwaru Road and estates along Lang'ata Road: Madaraka, Karen, Lang'ata and Kibra, and parts of South C Estates.

Nairobi has been facing a water shortage since 2017 and the situation has not gotten any better.

The capital needs a total of 770 million cubic metres of water a day but the Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company (NCWSC) only manages to supply about 520 million cubic metres with a deficit of 250 million cubic metres.

The shortage is projected to worsen with the Nairobi Water Master Plan showing the city will require 1.2 billion litres of water daily by 2035.

This has subjected the over five million Nairobi residents to water rationing with some estates especially in Eastlands even going for a week with dry taps.

Different areas of the city receive water on specific days of the week, some for a few days and others for just a few hours.