Power cable fault at Dhabeji pumps threatens Karachi water supply, KWSC says

KARACHI: Residents may face water supply disruption in parts of the metropolis following a power breakdown at the Dhabeji pumping station on Sunday morning, the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation (KWSC) said. Dhabeji pumping station is the city’s primary water intake point and highly dependent on uninterrupted electricity. Even brief outages result in immediate service disruptions. In a statement, a KWSC spokesperson said that power to several phases of the pumping station was suspended at 6am due to a cable fault in K-Electric’s system. “Power breakdown suspended supply to the third phase, fourth phase, and K-3 Pump House at Dhabeji,” the statement said, adding that due to the breakdown, 10 out of 21 pumps were currently non-functional. The statement added that water supply to the city could be partially affected due to the closure of the pumps. KWSC officials were in contact with KE to restore electricity, it added. “Ten affected pumps will be made operational immediately once power is restored at Dhabeji,” the KWSC said, appealing to citizens to avoid unnecessary water use. Meanwhile, a KE spokesperson said that a fire in the bushes near the pumping station had led to the cable fault. In a statement, the spokespeson added that a technical team was present at the site, which remained in coordination with KWSC officials to restore power supply and was providing all possible assistance. On July 27, the city faced a shortfall of 48 million gallons of water following a breakdown at Dhabeji, affecting areas including parts of North Nazimabad, Nazimabad, Gulberg Town, New Karachi, Landhi, Korangi and Scheme 33. Earlier that month, another electricity outage at Dhabeji had affected its K-2 Pump House, where the manifold chamber and main valves developed a fault. As a result, three major pumps at the K-2 Pumping Station were temporarily shut down. On June 1, supply from Hub Pumping Station was also suspended to parts of Karachi due to a fault in KE’s main cable. At the time, KWSC said that the power suspension had resulted in a daily water shortfall of 85 million gallons per day (MGD) for the city. It was the third consecutive day of power failures at key pumping stations disrupting distribution across the metropolis, as the day prior the city faced a shortfall of 122 MGD after electricity supply to the North East Karachi Pumping Station was disrupted due to a fault in KE main cable. On May 30, yet another emergency shutdown at the Dhabeji Pumping Station forced 10 of the station’s 21 pumping units to shut down.

KWSC spokesperson says K-Electric has begun work to reconnect affected cable, restore power to Dhabeji pumps