A section of Nairobians to go without water indefinitely
A section of residents of Nairobi county will have to do without water for an indefinite number of days after operations at the Sasumua dam were shud down.
Nairobi City Water & Sewerage Company Ltd on Friday said it was forced to shut down water supply at the dam due to a landslide inside Aberdare forest which has damaged the water transmission pipes.
The firm said the suspension of transmission at Sasumua means 11.6 per cent of city estates and commercial centres will experience water shortage indefinitely.
“NCWSC has shut down water production at Sasumua Dam Treatment works which supplies 11.6% of water to the Nairobi City County. This is occasioned by a massive landslide in Karemenu River inside the Aberdare Ranges. Our engineers working on modalities of the repair works,” read part of the statement.
The water company explained that the area was experiencing heavy rains making access very difficult as its engineers were forced to walk 10km inside the forest to access damaged water pipes.
Areas affected include estates along Waiyaki Way, Naivasha road, Kangemi, Lavington, Westlands, Parklands, Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi Hospital, M.P. Shah Hospital, Aga Khan Hospital, as well as ILRI, Upper hill, Kilimani and Community.
Also affected are University of Nairobi main campus hall of residence, Upper and Lower Kabete campus, University of Nairobi and Kenyatta University Parklands law campuses.
Estates around Kenyatta market, Kibera, Langata, Jamhuri, Ngando, Riruta/Satelite, Dagoretti Corner and Kawangware will also have no water.
Also to experience water shortage are areas along Langata, Madaraka Estate, Mbagathi and Ngong roads, Karen, Loresho, Nyari, Kitisuru, estates along Peponi Road, New Muthaiga and Thigiri ridge areas
Those residing in Eastlands will get water this weekend as water supply from Ng’ethu treatment works is slowly stabilising.
Members of the public have been urged to use available water sparingly.
Last weekend the city experienced up to 85 percent water shortage for hours after the flow was disrupted when the main water treatment plant was shut down.
Nairobi Water said the interruption was because one of the main treatment facilities experienced an operational glitch owing to the ongoing heavy rainfall.
It explained that this had seen increased river flow causing very high turbidity in the raw water flowing with soil deposits linked to landslide upstream.
NCWSC has shut down water production at Sasumua Dam Treatment works which supplies 11.6% of water to the Nairobi City County. This is occasioned by a massive landslide in Karemenu River inside the Aberdare Ranges. Our engineers working on modalities of the repair works RT pic.twitter.com/JRuOWKAmMc
— Nairobi Water (@NairobiWater) May 8, 2020