Why Is There No Water in My Apartment?
County Supply Interruption
Nairobi City Water & Sewerage Company (NCWSC) frequently interrupts supply for maintenance, rationing, or emergency repairs. Check their social media or call 0800 723 000.
Building Tank is Empty
Your landlord or caretaker failed to refill the rooftop or underground storage tank before it ran dry. This is the most common cause in Nairobi apartments.
Pump Failure
A submersible or booster pump that pushes water to upper floors has broken down. Water may be in the ground tank but cannot reach your flat.
Burst or Blocked Pipe
A burst main supply pipe or a frozen valve has cut off flow to your unit or the entire building. Water may be visible leaking outside.
Unpaid Water Bill
The building management may have failed to pay the utility bill. NCWSC will disconnect the meter without notice once payment lapses significantly.
Scheduled Maintenance
Planned infrastructure works in your area can cause extended outages. These are often announced but not always communicated to tenants by landlords.
Warning Signs Before You Run Out Completely
- Water pressure dropping slowly over several days — your tank is emptying faster than it is being refilled
- Water flow only available in the early morning or late at night — a sign of severe county rationing in your area
- Strange gurgling sounds from taps before they go dry — air entering the pipes as the last water drains
- Water that appears brown or discoloured — sediment from a near-empty storage tank being drawn into supply
- Caretaker refilling the tank more frequently than usual — the building's storage capacity is insufficient for demand
- Neighbours on higher floors complaining while lower floors still have water — pump failure affecting upper units first
Risks of Prolonged Water Shortage
Health & Hygiene
Unable to wash hands, flush toilets, or prepare food safely. Risk of cholera, typhoid, and other waterborne diseases increases rapidly.
Sanitation Failure
Unflushed toilets quickly create unbearable conditions, odour, and sanitation emergencies especially in buildings with many units.
Business Disruption
Work-from-home tenants, small businesses, restaurants and salons operating from apartments face forced closure during water outages.
Fire Safety Risk
Buildings with no water in storage tanks have zero fire suppression capacity — a serious legal and safety compliance failure.
Immediate Actions When You Have No Water
- Confirm it is building-wide, not just your unit Call or knock on a neighbour's door. If they also have no water, escalate to the caretaker. If only your unit is affected, check your individual stop valve (usually under the kitchen sink or near your bathroom inlet).
- Contact your caretaker or estate manager immediately Let them know and ask for an ETA on restoration. If they say the tank is empty, ask them to order a water tanker urgently — and confirm they are doing so.
- Check NCWSC / county water service announcements Visit the NCWSC Twitter/X page or call their customer line at 0800 723 000 (Nairobi) to confirm if there is a planned or emergency outage. For Mombasa, contact Coast Water Works Development Agency.
- Order an emergency water tanker if no resolution within 2 hours If the landlord is unresponsive or the outage will last more than a few hours, contact OmiDrop Africa on +254 745 426 565 or via WhatsApp. We coordinate directly with building management for rooftop tank and sump refilling.
- Conserve what water you have Fill buckets, pots, or any clean containers from the trickle remaining before flow stops completely. Do not flush the toilet unnecessarily. Use hand sanitiser where hand-washing is not possible.
- Do not attempt to repair pipes or pumps yourself Attempting to fix a pump or open building main valves without proper knowledge can worsen the situation, flood units, or damage building infrastructure. Call a qualified technician or your landlord's appointed plumber.
How We Restore Your Water Supply Fast
Emergency Water Delivery for Apartments & Residential Estates
OmiDrop Africa operates a fleet of certified water tankers sized to serve single apartments through to large residential estates and commercial buildings. We deliver NEMA-certified potable water for domestic use or non-potable water for sanitation and construction — and our team is trained to pump directly into rooftop tanks, underground sumps, or ground-level storage.