The Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company (NCWSC) announced on Monday that it will close the Ngethu Water Treatment Plant on Tuesday and Wednesday to allow for the connection of a new pipeline.
This means, Umoja 1&2, Kayole, areas around Kangundo road, Dandora and others will go without water.
“This will facilitate interconnection of the new Kiambu-Embakasi pipeline to the Ngethu Gigiri transmission pipeline at Kiambu Reservoir in readiness to transfer water to Embakasi, Mihago, Utawala and Ruai areas once the Northern Collector Tunnel project is completed in June 2022,” said Nairobi Water managing director Nahashon Muguna in a notice to customers.
“We appeal to our customers for indulgence and also urge them to use available water sparingly as we work towards restoring the supply,” he said.
This year alone, city residents have had to endure at least six water supply interruptions by the urban water utility firm in February, May, June, July and September for infrastructural upgrades.
Nairobi has been experiencing water rationing since April 2017 forcing most residents to turn to water from boreholes or those supplied at exorbitant prices by water vendors.
Only about 50 percent of Nairobi residents have direct access to piped water while the rest depend on water from kiosks, vendors, illegal connections, or from boreholes.
But even those with direct access to piped water, only 40 percent of this lot receive water 24 hours per day with the rest for only 11 hours on average.