Kenya: Nairobi Water Announces 26-Hour Shutdown Affecting Large Parts of City

What the report says

Nairobi residents in several parts of the city are facing a planned water interruption after Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company announced a 26-hour shutdown of the Sasumua Water Treatment Plant. According to Capital FM’s report distributed by AllAfrica, the outage is scheduled to begin at 6 a.m. on Friday and continue until 8 a.m. on Saturday, September 12, while emergency repairs are carried out on the Sasumua-Kabete pipeline.

The utility said the disruption will affect a wide area of Nairobi, including residential neighborhoods, the central business district, hospitals, schools and universities, and parts of the airport corridor. Areas named in the notice include Westlands, Lavington, Kilimani, Upper Hill, Dagoretti, Kawangware, Kibera, South B, South C, Eastlands, Mathare, Huruma and the Industrial Area, among others. Major institutions listed include Kenyatta National Hospital, the University of Nairobi Main Campus, Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, the Standard Gauge Railway and the United Nations Environment Programme.

Nairobi Water asked customers to store enough water in advance and to use existing supplies carefully during the repair period. The company said the shutdown was needed to complete emergency work and indicated that restoration would be done as soon as it could be carried out safely. The notice highlights the dependence of much of the capital on a limited water supply network and the potential disruption such maintenance work can cause for households and critical services.