A man carries empty water cans down a street in Beirut. (Credit: AFP)
BEIRUT — Beirut and Mount Lebanon's Water Establishment announced Saturday that severe water shortages in the capital and the Metn district are due to electricity shortages at its Dbayeh station following the theft of electrical cables.
Electricity is needed to power the water pumps at the station.
In a statement, the water establishment said it "apologizes for the intense rationing of water services, which is out of our hands, and involves Metn's coast and all the areas that get supplied from the tanks of Ashrafiyeh and Bourj Abi-Haidar in Beirut."
The water establishment also called on those who are "keen to maintain public services to cooperate to find sustainable solutions, first by finding possible and fast ways to secure electricity for water pumps, and second by stopping the [ongoing] series of theft and violations that transfer from a station to another."
Earlier this week, the South Lebanon Water Establishment completely cut water services supplied by most of its pumping stations "due to instability of electricity supply."