Water Crisis in Pinar del Río: Residents Demand Real Solutions

The Water and Sewer Company of Pinar del Río publicly acknowledged on Monday that maintaining a continuous water supply in the city is "materially impossible." This admission stems from a combination of non-operational pumping equipment and severe electrical restrictions.

According to official data, the 20-inch pipeline is short of two pumping units; the 30-inch pipeline—serving over 60% of the provincial capital's population—operates at just 50% capacity due to the absence of three out of its six pumps; and the 36-inch pipeline is also missing two pumps.

In total, seven pumping units are either missing or out of service across the three main conduits of the city.

"Given this combined scenario of energy limitations and equipment failures or shortages, providing a continuous service becomes materially impossible," stated the state-owned company.

As a potential remedy, the company plans to add at least one pump to the 30-inch pipeline and another to the 20-inch line, along with improvements in electrical stability. However, they did not provide any specific dates or a distribution schedule by neighborhood.

The announcement concluded by requesting "understanding and support during these challenging times," a phrase that sparked anger among the residents of Pinar del Río.

"Understanding? We've been understanding the situation for years," retorted one resident.

Others were more direct: "No excuses, solutions" and "I say with full transparency that we cannot live without water. With or without understanding."

A resident from the Pipo neighborhood reported three months without water in that area. Several neighbors claimed the situation is not new and that the explanations are repeated without any change: "We've known about the complex situation for a long time; what we want is to know the solution to this grave situation, justifications are not enough, we want results."

Just three days before the announcement, Vice Prime Minister Inés María Chapman Waugh visited the province along with the director of the Electric Union and a representative from the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources (INRH), highlighting the need for an integrated water-energy program.

At that time, around 169,700 residents of the province lacked regular access to drinking water, with 46 pumping units and six booster pumps out of order at the provincial level, alongside electrical outages lasting over 16 hours daily at pumping stations.

In September, the provincial Communist Party had already acknowledged that complaints about water in Pinar del Río were recurring without improvement, and that more than 100 million pesos in investments had not resolved the problem.

Nationally, the INRH reported that over 2.4 million Cubans were affected by water service issues as of October 26, 2026, with more than 85% of the hydraulic infrastructure dependent on the National Electrical System.

The Water and Sewer Company's statement does not specify when the continuity of service might be restored, leaving Pinar del Río residents still waiting for a response that, so far, remains elusive.