Water Outages Spread Across Yaoundé After Shutdown at Major Treatment Plant
Large sections of Yaoundé continue to face severe water supply disruptions after technical problems forced a shutdown at the Akomnyada water treatment plant, one of the capital’s main sources of drinking water.
In a May 10 statement, state water utility Camwater said the interruptions followed maintenance work carried out by electricity transmission company Sonatrel at the 90/30 kV substation in Mbalmayo.
According to Camwater, the work caused the pumping systems at the Akomnyada plant to shut down Sunday morning, sharply affecting water distribution across several parts of the city.
The disruptions have spread across large sections of Yaoundé.
In eastern and southeastern neighborhoods, areas affected include Ekounou, Biteng, Nkoabang, the Mfou road corridor and Ekoumdoum.
Southern districts including Nguem, Happy, Odza, Nsam and Nkoulou have also reported supply interruptions.
In western and central Yaoundé, neighborhoods such as Simbock, Mendong, Etoug-Ebé, Biyem-Assi and the Boulevard du 20-Mai have experienced outages or major drops in water pressure.
In some areas, residents say the water shortages began before the plant officially stopped operating.
In Obobogo, a neighborhood in Yaoundé III district, several residents said they had already been without water for days as temperatures rose and households increasingly relied on private boreholes or water purchased from informal vendors.
Those claims could not be independently verified based on available sources.
Camwater said water service would gradually return once Sonatrel completed maintenance work and the Akomnyada pumping systems resumed operations.
The company, however, did not provide a timeline for a full return to normal service.
The latest disruption has again highlighted the fragile state of water infrastructure in Cameroon’s capital.
Akomnyada plays a central role in supplying Yaoundé with drinking water.
According to previously published figures cited by state media, the facility alone provides most of the water distributed across the city, even as demand continues to exceed available supply.
More broadly, Camwater has struggled for months with recurring production and distribution problems, particularly in Yaoundé and Douala.
Frequent service interruptions have become a growing concern for households and small businesses that depend on stable access to water for daily operations.
