The Nairobi Water and Sewerage Company has cautioned that the University of Nairobi, Kenyatta National Hospital, and Westlands are among areas that may face a water shortage due to a technical glitch.
In a notice on Saturday, August 17, the company's managing director, Nahashon Muguna, stated that other areas that may be affected include Lang'ata, Kibera, Kilimani, Lavington, Parklands, Riverside, and Kileleshwa.
Other areas include estates along Ngong and Lang'ata roads; estates along Raila Odinga Road, including Madaraka and Nyayo Highrise estates, Nairobi West, as well as The Nairobi Hospital.
The company attributed the shortage to technical challenges along the Kabete-Kibera-Lang'ata water supply pipeline.
The utility company has urged the affected customers to use stored water sparingly as the company's technical staff resolves the glitch. The company, however, has not said when the shortage is expected to end.
Furthermore, the company has assured that it will deploy water tankers to the affected estates, where residents can draw water for domestic use for free.
"Our technical staff is working around the clock to resolve the problem. We advise our customers to use their stored water sparingly," Muguna stated.
"In the meantime, we have dispatched our water tankers to the affected estates for residents to draw water free of charge," he added.
Nairobi, which has a population of approximately five million people, requires up to 900 million litres of water a day.
Earlier this year, President William Ruto revealed plans to increase water supply in the city through the Northern Water collection tunnel, which is an 11.8 km raw water transfer tunnel.
The supply system has been created in a way that it collects 40 per cent of floodwaters from rivers Irati, Gikigie, and Maragua and channels them to the Ndakaini Dam, which supplies the Nairobi Metropolitan region and beyond.
According to the Head of State, who spoke in Kawangware on Wednesday, March 12, the move will be vital in resolving the recurrent water shortages in the city.
"I know we have a water shortage problem in Nairobi. I want to give an assurance that in the next week or two, we are going to launch the Northern Collector Tunnel, which will bring 140 billion litres," Ruto said.
