Cuba Water Shortages Hit Nearly 3 Million as Fuel Supplies Fall to 37% of Need
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Jul 26
Cuba Water Shortages Hit Nearly 3 Million as Fuel Supplies Fall to 37% of Need
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jul 26
Summary
Nearly 3 million Cubans are struggling to access water as blackouts shut pumping stations and leave households in Havana without reliable running water for months or years.
Just 37% of the fuel needed to run the water system is available, and up to 70% of Havana’s water is lost through leaks before reaching homes.
Havana residents now organize daily life around brief returns of electricity, waking at night to fill rooftop tanks, cook and charge phones before power cuts resume.
1,500 pesos buys a 200-litre tank from informal water carriers, a growing trade as poorer families haul water themselves while hotels and wealthier households rely on tanks, generators or solar power.
The shortages deepened after Venezuelan oil exports to Cuba were suspended earlier this year, worsening a crisis already strained by ageing infrastructure, fuel scarcity and US sanctions.