Why the city centre has been hit by acute water shortage
Business owners in the city centre woke up to dry taps after the Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company(NCWS) shut down the main water supply line at Ngethu water treatment plant due to a broken valve.
The plant supplies 85 per cent of the water used in Nairobi.
The valve broke down near Utalii college and affected water supply in the Central Business District, the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and Kenya Breweries from Sunday 8pm.
The Nairobi county executive in charge of environment Engineer Perter Kimori said that the main valve at Utalii had burst, hence the shutdown of the water supply to allow for repair.
“The main gate valve burst yesterday (Sunday) evening around 8pm therefore we had to shut down the main water supply to allow its repair due to pressure,”said Eng Kimori.
He said that the engineers are on the ground and expected the water supply to resume by midday.
MANAGEABLE
Eng Kimori said that the water shortage was manageable because those affected, especially JKIA, had a reservoir that would sustain them until the restoration.
Nairobi Water Company, in a statement released by head of corporate affairs Mbaruku Vyakweli, said that the company had shut down the main water to allow for repairs and maintenance.
“We wish to inform our esteem customers that we have this evening shut down our water supply line to the city center to facilitate repair works aimed at further improving the flow, we anticipate to resume normal supply by August 22nd midday, “read the statement.
On the frequency of water shortage, the Eng Kamori acknowledged that the county’s surplus had been surpassed by the demand by the people.
He said that the Nairobi Water company could only supply 520,000 cubic litres of the needed 740,000 cubic litres.