If you operate a business or work in Nairobi’s city centre you better keep yourself off the tap water. Reports reaching BT indicate that there’s a health scare alert in the CBD after some buildings were reported to be receiving water contaminated with what is suspected to be sewage matter.
The contamination is said to have affected Kenyatta Avenue and adjacent areas. The contamination was flagged yesterday and notices issued in the buildings against using tap water. Some of the buildings affected include I&M, which houses Standard and KTN offices as well as I&M Bank; Postbank, which has Postbank and Ministry of ICT offices, as well as Pioneer House.
Tenants in the houses have been forced to look for alternative sources of water. The Nairobi Water and Sewerage company team has been on the ground since Tuesday morning but has yet to sort out the fault.
It is not clear if anyone had consumed the water before the notices were issued, but the contamination has raised fears of cholera outbreak among tenants. So far no infections from the contaminated water has been reported.
It is understood the sewerage and water pipes run parallel and a leakage from the sewer line leakage can easily percolate into the water system through cracks or burst, leading to disastrous consequences.
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