Residents of Eldoret are bracing for nearly two days without running water next week after the Eldoret Water and Sanitation Company (ELDOWAS) announced a major supply disruption.
In a notice issued Wednesday, Managing Director Lawrence Tanui said the shutdown will begin at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, September 17, and last until 9 p.m. the following day.
The interruption will allow for routine maintenance at the Chebara Water Treatment Plant, the town’s main source of supply.
The outage will affect several estates and institutions, including Kimumu, University of Eldoret, Marakwet Farm, Munyaka, Kapsoya, Action Estates, Rift Valley Bottlers, Bio-Corn, and Upper Elgon View. Others on the list are Eldoret Polytechnic, Annex, Langas, Racecourse, Kapsaret, Chepkanga, Marura, Kamukunji, Mwanzo, Old Uganda Road, as well as all customers connected to the Chebara-Eldoret pipeline.
“This is to inform the public that there will be a temporary disruption in water supply from the Chebara Treatment Plant for undertaking essential maintenance,” Tanui said.
He added that while water tankers would not be available for affected areas, other treatment plants in the region would continue to supply parts of Eldoret that are not connected to Chebara.
Eldoret, home to more than 200,000 people, requires an estimated 65 million liters of water each day.
The looming shortage has unsettled many households, with some already making plans to store water ahead of the shutdown.
Water cuts are not uncommon in Kenyan towns. Just last month, Nairobi Water and Sewerage Company announced a similar disruption that left more than ten estates including Kibera, Lang’ata, Kilimani, Westlands, and Parklands scrambling for alternative supplies after a fault along the Kabete-Kibera-Lang’ata pipeline.
In Nairobi, tankers were dispatched to ease the strain, and residents were urged to use their stored water sparingly.