NAIROBI, Kenya — Nairobi residents face a five-day water supply interruption beginning Monday, April 6, as the Athi Water Works Development Agency (AWWDA) shuts down the Northern Collector Tunnel 1 (NCT1) system for critical infrastructure works.
The Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company announced the shutdown on Saturday, April 5, warning of the interruption from 6:00 a.m. Monday to 6:00 a.m. Saturday, April 11, would affect large parts of the capital.
Affected Zones
The outage targets the Central Business District, Westlands, Lavington, Kilimani, Ngara, Kileleshwa, Kibera, Industrial Area, and surrounding estates.
The works aim to complete essential linkages between the Kigoro Water Treatment Plant and the Gigiri and Kabete reservoirs—connections designed to improve long-term supply reliability.
Utility officials urged residents and businesses to conserve available water, noting the temporary disruption serves permanent capacity expansion.
Sakaja Defends Timing
Nairobi Governor Sakaja Johnson acknowledged the inconvenience while framing the project as addressing persistent water infrastructure deficits.
“We understand the disruption this will cause to residents and businesses, but these works are critical to securing Nairobi’s water future,” Governor Sakaja said. “Once completed, the upgrades will significantly enhance supply capacity and reliability across the city.”
He added that the county government is working to ensure schedule adherence and prompt restoration of normal supply.
Mitigation Measures
Residents have been advised to store water in advance and adopt conservation measures throughout the shutdown.
Authorities indicated water bowsers may deploy to critical institutions—hospitals and schools—where necessary.
The interruption tests Nairobi’s water governance framework, where decades of underinvestment have created chronic supply-demand gaps.
The AWWDA intervention represents national government infrastructure investment attempting to resolve county service delivery failures.