Coast residents to go without water as pump station flooded
Baricho water works in Malindi where water from Sabaki River submerged pumping machines.
What you need to know:
- Mr Mwaruwa said nine of the company’s boreholes were submerged in water after River Sabaki broke its banks.
- He said his team of engineers are on high alert and ready to act but are waiting for the water in the river to subside.
- The nine boreholes have a daily production e of between 75 million and 95 million litres.
More than one million residents of Kilifi and Mombasa will go without water after the Kilifi-Mariakani Water and Sewerage Company (Kimawasco) on Thursday shut down its water pumps at the Baricho water works.
Kimawasco Managing Director Hezekiah Mwarua on Thursday said some of its water pumps at the station based in Langobaya, Malindi Sub-County were submerged in water because of the ongoing heavy rains.
In a statement Mr Mwaruwa said nine of the company’s boreholes were submerged in water after River Sabaki broke its banks.
BOREHOLES SUBMERGED
“The Sabaki River has burst its banks due to heavy rains experienced in Kenya and all the boreholes at Baricho water works are now submerged in water. We cannot at the moment access our boreholes because they are deep in the middle of the water,” he said in a statement.
Mr Mwaruwa said his team of engineers are on high alert and ready to act but are waiting for the water in the river to subside to allow them carry out technical checks before they can resuming pumping.
NO WATER FOR TWO DAYS
“We shall resume pumping only when water levels go down. At the moment, nothing can be done which means that people in both Kilifi and Mombasa will have to go without water for the next one or two days. It will all depend on the situation at River Sabaki,” he added.
The nine boreholes have a daily production e of between 75 million and 95 million litres.
“They are all now are submerged and this affects water supply to over one million residents of Kilifi and Mombasa counties,” he added.
Mr Mwaruwa said the situation has also exposed the company to losses amounting to Sh2.75 million in opportunity costs as a result of not supplying water to customers.
