Thousands of residents and businesses across Nairobi are expected to experience water shortages after Nairobi Water and Sewerage Company announced a temporary supply interruption to facilitate emergency repairs on a major transmission pipeline.
The utility company said the shutdown was necessitated by a leak detected on the NCT-Kigoro-Gigiri-Kabete transmission line at Gatundu, a key component of the city’s water distribution network.
In a public notice, Nairobi Water said the interruption began at 10:00 p.m. on Monday and is expected to continue until midday on Tuesday as repair works are undertaken.
“This is to inform you of a temporary water supply interruption that will affect several residential and commercial areas in the city. The interruption is due to a leakage on the NCT-Kigoro-Gigiri-Kabete transmission pipeline at Gatundu,” the company stated.
Residential estates among hardest hit
The disruption will affect several high-population residential and commercial zones across the capital.
Areas expected to experience reduced or interrupted water supply include Westlands, Lavington, Kilimani, Upperhill, Ngong Road, Madaraka, Langata, Kibera, Karen, Uthiru, Kawangware and Kangemi.
The outage will also affect customers served by MAVWASCO and Oloolaiser Water Company.
Residents were advised to use available water sparingly and make alternative arrangements while repair works continue.
The interruption is expected to impact households, schools, hospitals, hotels and businesses that depend on a steady water supply throughout the day.
Repair works target key transmission line
According to Nairobi Water, the maintenance exercise is aimed at fixing a leak on one of the major pipelines supplying water to parts of Nairobi and its surrounding areas.
Utility officials said the repairs are necessary to prevent further losses and improve the reliability of the city’s water distribution system.
Water services are expected to resume gradually once the repair works are completed and pressure is restored within the network.
The company noted that restoration times may vary depending on location and system stabilization requirements.
Water outages remain common challenge
The latest interruption highlights the growing pressure on water infrastructure as demand continues to rise in Nairobi and its satellite towns.
A similar notice was recently issued by Eldoret Water and Sanitation Company (ELDOWAS), which announced a three-day water interruption beginning June 16 to allow routine maintenance at the Chebara Water Treatment Plant.
The Eldoret outage is expected to affect residential estates, educational institutions and businesses served by the Chebara-Eldoret pipeline.
Water service providers across the country have increasingly relied on scheduled maintenance works to improve efficiency and reduce losses caused by aging infrastructure.
For Nairobi residents, however, the immediate concern remains ensuring sufficient water supplies until normal service resumes later on Tuesday.
