In the commune of Annexe, yellow jerrycans are lined up at the water points well before sunrise. Residents of the Kasapa neighbourhood describe leaving home around 3 a.m. and being served only late in the morning, with two or three containers at most. A 20-litre can, normally sold for 100 Congolese francs, climbed to 250 francs there during the 2024 dry season. For a household that uses several a day, the cost quickly strains the budget.
The problem reaches far beyond one area. Local media have reported similar situations in Gambela 1 and 2, in Bel-Air, and in Kilobelobe, a neighbourhood left without a connection for sixteen years according to Yabisonews. The pattern is the same everywhere: silent taps, wells that dry up once the rains stop, and families forced to turn to private boreholes whose quality is not always checked.
Residents point first to electricity. Without a steady current, pumping stations run slowly and the pressure is too weak to reach outlying districts. The dry season, which stretches from May to October, makes matters worse by emptying the wells that households fall back on as a last resort.
A deeper threat hangs over the city, however. On World Water Day in March 2025, Regideso sounded the alarm over the illegal occupation of its catchment sites. Kimilolo, which alone supplies about 60% of Lubumbashi’s water, is reported to be 52% occupied. At Kasapa, 429 of the 564 protected hectares are said to have been lost, or 76% of the area. Luano is affected as well. Houses and private plots are replacing vegetation, stopping rainwater from soaking into the ground and exposing the aquifers to pollution.
Climate scientist Jean-Pierre Djibu warned that unless this land is saved, the city risks losing its access to drinking water altogether. The utility, for its part, says it has submitted a development plan to the provincial government that could cover the entire urban area, provided the funding comes through. That money is still awaited.
Meanwhile the population is growing faster than the network. Securing the catchment perimeters, stabilising the power supply to the pumps and extending the mains towards the outskirts are the three tasks that must be tackled if the daily search for water is to stop starting before dawn.