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More than 2.7 million Cubans have their water service disrupted, according to the INRH
The National Institute of Water Resources reported that supply was disrupted on Friday for more than 2.7 million people, because of the blackouts, breakdowns and the decay of the networks, according to the EFE news agency.
The National Institute of Water Resources (INRH) reported that «the water supply in Cuba is disrupted this Friday for more than 2.7 million people», according to the EFE news agency, in a statement translated by Yamacoa. A break in the main pipeline of Cuenca Sur, Havana's main source of supply, affected more than 200,000 residents of three municipalities in the capital; the fault was repaired the previous day, but service took between six and seven hours to resume.
The agency also reports supply problems in the western provinces of Pinar del Río and Artemisa and in the eastern provinces of Granma and Holguín. The authorities attribute the worsening to the decay of the water networks from a lack of investment and maintenance, and to the blackouts, on which the pumping equipment depends to work.
According to official figures cited by CiberCuba, those 2.7 million amount to about 35% of the population served by the piped network that gets no water at home or gets too little. Some 87% of the country's water systems need electricity to run, so prolonged blackouts also cut off supply.
In Manzanillo, Granma, UNICEF donated seven pieces of water equipment intended to improve supply for some 105,000 residents of the urban area, which should add about 396 liters per second to the network, as announced by the first secretary of the Communist Party in the province, Yudelkis Ortiz Barceló. The state station Radio Bayamo acknowledged that some metered sectors have gone cycles of more than a year without receiving water, and in the comments on the official announcement itself a local resident said the highest part of the city has gone «a year and 10 months without service».
Sources: EFE · CiberCuba · Serie Yamacoa: Población efectiva de Cuba (ONEI)
Data updated: 2026-10-24T05:30:00.000Z