Tunisia swelters as power cuts disrupt water supplies

What the report says

Tunisia is grappling with a severe heatwave that has pushed temperatures to 49.8 degrees Celsius in the central city of Kairouan, according to Al Jazeera’s reporting. The extreme weather has driven record electricity demand, while also worsening pressure on water systems and health services. The utility company STEG has introduced rotating power cuts in several regions as the grid comes under strain from heavy air-conditioning use.

The outages have had knock-on effects on water distribution in some places because parts of the network rely on electrically powered pumping stations. Al Jazeera cited one case in which an interruption stopped the main Kerker pumping station and disrupted drinking water in areas of the Mahdia and Sfax governorates. At the same time, the article notes that Tunisia already faces long-running water scarcity and drought, so the current cuts are intensifying an existing problem rather than causing it outright.

Hospitals are also under pressure as doctors report more heat-related admissions and emergency cases. Tunisia’s Health Ministry said it recorded hundreds of consultations and treatments linked to the heatwave between July 1 and August 29, while doctors’ groups warned of a sharp rise in serious cases. The article also says bottled-water production and access have been affected in some areas. President Kais Saied has suggested some disruptions may involve sabotage, but Al Jazeera noted that this remains an allegation and that official technical explanations have been given for at least some outages.