Taps Run Dry in Top Burundi Cities as Flooding Risk Looms

The water-pipeline system in the biggest cities in Burundi has collapsed, with residents resorting to taking buckets to central pickup points and rivers to obtain the basic commodity.

A national utility piped supplies into homes three times a week in the largest city of Bujumbura and in the capital, Gitega, until June. But higher demand, a network that hasn’t seen upgrades since the 1980s and the start of the dry season last month ground this supply to a halt, leaving people scrambling.