• Sasumua Dam, which supplies water to 11.6 per cent of Nairobi population, was closed after a landslide affected the Karemenu River flow in the Aberdare forest.
• To be supplied from water bowsers, customers must book for deliveries at the company's Joseph Kang'ethe and Parklands Plaza regional offices.
Image: /FILE
The Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company has resorted to serving many of its customers from water bowsers following the shutdown of Sasumua Dam treatment works last Friday.
But to get the commodity, customers have to book deliveries at the water company's Joseph Kang'ethe (Woodley) and Parklands Plaza (Westlands) regional offices.
Sasumua Dam, which supplies water to 11.6 per cent of the Nairobi population, was closed after a landslide affected the Karemenu River flow in the Aberdare forest.
NCWSC engineers and maintenance team are yet to sort out the problem, barely a week after Ng’ethu treatment works was shut also due to heavy rains and mudslides-related problems. Ng'ethu supplies 85 per cent of water in the city.
“Currently the area [the Aberdares] is experiencing heavy rains, making access very difficult. We have to walk over 10km inside the forest. The government is doing everything possible to restore the supply,” the firm said at the weekend.
The shutdown has affected estates on Waiyaki Way and Naivasha Road, Kangemi, Lavington, Westlands, Parklands, MP Shah Hospital, Aga Khan Hospital, ILRI, Upper Hill and Kilimani.
Also affected are The Nairobi Hospital and Kenyatta National Hospital, University of Nairobi's main campus halls of residence as well as its Upper and Lower Kabete campuses.
Both the UoN and Kenyatta University Parklands law campuses are without water. Kenyatta Market, Kibera, Jamhuri, Ngando, Riruta/Satellite, Dagoretti Corner, Kawangware, Lang'ata, Mbagathi, and Madaraka have no water.
The water taps are similarly dry in Karen, Loresho, Nyari, Kitisuru, Peponi Road estates, New Muthaiga and Thigiri Ridge.
Yesterday, a source who sought anonymity as she is not allowed to speak to the press, said, "The situation has not improved," before referring the Star to Nairobi Water acting MD Nahason Muguna.
Muguna neither picked our calls nor answered text messages.
On Friday, NCWSC announced that water supply from Ng’ethu treatment works is stabilising.
Already, estates along Outering and Mombasa roads, the Central Business District, Dandora, Kariobangi and Nyayo and other Eastlands estates, are getting their supplies.
Heavy rains in the Aberdares had increased the turbidity and clogging of Mwagu water intake along River Chania.
This forced the shutdown of Ng’ethu treatment plant on May 1, leading to a major water supply disruption across the city.
- mwaniki fm