CUBA: WHEN THE WATER COMES

View over the rooftops of Centro Habana, in Havana. The blue rooftop water tanks allow residents to store water whenever it becomes available. Frequent power outages prevent the pumps that supply the water network from operating, leaving some neighborhoods without running water for days.
A potable water tanker truck drives through the municipality of Cotorro, in Havana, past a billboard featuring the leaders of the Cuban Revolution. Power outages and fuel shortages disrupt the operation of pumping stations, making water deliveries essential in many parts of the capital.
At a water filling station for tanker trucks in Havana, a driver waits for hours to refill his tank. Power outages and fuel shortages disrupt the operation of pumping stations, slowing water deliveries to neighborhoods without running water.
After more than 15 hours without electricity, Dhayamis Hernández Díaz takes advantage of the temporary return of power to fill a bucket with water in the kitchen of her apartment in Centro Habana and refill her water tank. Because the pumps operate only when electricity is available, residents must store water whenever it returns. “Sometimes we have to wake up in the middle of the night when the power comes back for a few hours so we can store water, cook or charge our electronic devices before the next blackout” she says.
Roberto Pérez Morales, 65, carries a container of water to the home of his daughter, Mabel, in Havana’s historic center. A retired customs officer, he receives a monthly pension of about 2,000 Cuban pesos (around 3€) and supplements his income through odd jobs, including transporting and selling water in his neighborhood.
Mirella Martinez, 61, a retired security guard, prepares to walk nearly one kilometer with her empty jerrycans to collect water from a pump located at her daughter’s workplace. She lives with her three daughters and grandson in Havana’s Chinatown district, where their apartment has been without running water for the past three years. “It’s a daily struggle. I have to fetch water three times a day” she says.
Mirella filters the water intended for drinking after boiling it. Once brought home, the water is stored in jerrycans and water tanks to meet her family’s daily needs. “We have to be very careful not to waste anything. This water is used for drinking, cooking, washing ourselves and doing the laundry. Everything is rationed” she says.
In Cotorro, a resident attempts to repair a damaged water pipe in an effort to restore water supply to the neighborhood. In this municipality on the southeastern outskirts of Havana, many residents sometimes have access to electricity for only one or two hours a day and have been without running water for months. The aging water infrastructure continues to deteriorate due to a chronic lack of maintenance, while the energy crisis, fuel shortages and difficulties obtaining spare parts slow repair work.
Paul Molina, 52, a former water tanker driver now out of work because of fuel shortages, has been waiting for several hours to refill the water tank mounted on his electric cargo tricycle. “It’s torture. Nothing works. We have no gasoline, no water, no electricity. Everything is expensive. It’s very difficult to live like this” he says.
At the Escobar pumping station in Centro Habana, Juan de la Cruz Villalón, 66, and Juan Carlos Reyes, 55, fill containers with water before loading them onto a handcart to sell to residents without running water. Both university graduates, they turned to this work in January after being unable to find employment. “We’re just trying to survive. Life isn’t easy right now” they say.
Juan Miguel Reyes, 58, Juan de la Cruz Villalón, 66, and Juan Carlos Reyes, 55, transport a water tank on a handcart after filling it at a pumping station nearly two kilometers from their home. They make up to three trips a day, selling the water to residents without running water in the working-class neighborhood of Los Sitios, Havana.
Juan Miguel Reyes, 58, delivers water to the home of a resident in the Los Sitios neighborhood of Havana. A former doctor now unemployed, he turned to selling water in January 2026 alongside his brother and uncle, with whom he lives. Together, they sell a 200-liter tank of water for 1,500 Cuban pesos (just over 2€) and earn between 3,000 and 4,000 pesos a day, equivalent to around 4€ to 6€ at the informal exchange rate.
Juan Miguel Reyes, 58, pours water into the storage tank of the home he shares with his brother and uncle in the Los Sitios neighborhood of Havana. Running water is available only intermittently there, sometimes just once every two or three days.
Carlos Sánchez, 46, and his nephew carry buckets of water up the stairs of an apartment building in Centro Habana, Havana. They supply residents without running water when power outages prevent pumps from filling the rooftop water tanks. Without electricity, water can no longer reach apartments on the upper floors.
Carlos Sánchez, 46, refills the water tank of a resident in Centro Habana. To earn a living, he rents a cycle rickshaw every day for 2,000 Cuban pesos (less than 3€ at the informal exchange rate), using it to transport passengers as well as collect and sell water throughout the neighborhood. “I’m starting to have back problems from carrying water upstairs, but I have no choice. I have to provide for my family” he says.
A resident washes himself with water flowing from a tanker truck waiting to be refilled at a water distribution station in Havana. For some residents, these trucks provide one of the few opportunities to access running water.
In Havana, a resident uses water leaking from a damaged fire hydrant to do his laundry. Leaks in the aging water network sometimes become an improvised source of water for residents facing chronic shortages.
Guests enjoy the swimming pool of a luxury hotel in Havana’s historic center. While millions of Cubans face water and electricity shortages, luxury hotels and wealthier households are more likely to have water storage tanks, generators or solar panels, helping them mitigate the impact of the outages.

ENGLISH :

Cuba : When the Water Comes

In Cuba, power outages do more than leave people in the dark: they also disrupt access to water. For months, the country’s energy crisis has severely disrupted water supply across much of the island. Pumping stations, which rely on electricity and fuel to operate, are regularly shut down by blackouts and fuel shortages, while the country’s aging water infrastructure suffers from chronic underinvestment, poor maintenance and a shortage of spare parts. Cuban authorities attribute the situation to tighter U.S. sanctions and restrictions on fuel imports. Other observers also point to the country’s economic crisis, decades of underinvestment and the gradual deterioration of public infrastructure.

According to Cuba’s National Institute of Water Resources, nearly three million Cubans experience water shortages every day. The system currently operates with only 37 percent of the fuel it requires. In Havana, between 40 and 70 percent of the water is lost through leaks before it reaches households. In some neighborhoods, residents can go for weeks without running water, relying instead on water tanker deliveries, the few pumping stations still in operation, or informal water vendors who transport hundreds of liters each day by bicycle, electric tricycle or handcart before selling it to local families.

In Centro Habana, Dhayamis Hernández Díaz takes advantage of every time the power returns to refill her apartment’s water tanks before the next blackout. In Havana’s Chinatown district, Mirella Martinez, 61, walks several kilometers to fetch water for her family, which she boils and filters before it can be consumed. In Los Sitios, Juan Miguel Reyes, a former doctor now unemployed, and Carlos Sánchez are among the water vendors who transport hundreds of liters of water every day to supply households without running water. Their stories reflect how Cuba’s energy crisis is reshaping daily life and livelihoods.

FRANÇAIS :

Cuba : l’eau sous tension

À Cuba, les coupures d’électricité ne privent pas seulement les habitants de lumière : elles interrompent aussi l’accès à l’eau. Depuis plusieurs mois, la crise énergétique perturbe fortement l’approvisionnement en eau dans une grande partie du pays. Les stations de pompage, qui dépendent de l’électricité et du carburant, sont régulièrement mises à l’arrêt par les coupures de courant et les pénuries de pétrole, tandis que les infrastructures hydrauliques, vieillissantes, souffrent d’un manque chronique d’entretien et de pièces de rechange. Les autorités cubaines attribuent cette situation au durcissement des sanctions américaines et aux restrictions sur les approvisionnements en carburant. D’autres observateurs soulignent également le rôle de la crise économique, du sous-investissement et de la dégradation progressive des infrastructures.

Selon l’Institut national des ressources hydrauliques, près de trois millions de Cubains sont confrontés chaque jour à des difficultés d’approvisionnement en eau. Le système ne dispose que de 37 % du carburant nécessaire à son fonctionnement. À La Havane, entre 40 et 70 % de l’eau se perd dans les fuites du réseau avant d’atteindre les habitations. Dans certains quartiers, les habitants peuvent rester plusieurs semaines sans eau courante et dépendent des livraisons par camions-citernes, des quelques stations de pompage encore en activité ou de travailleurs de l’eau, qui acheminent quotidiennement des centaines de litres à vélo, en triporteur ou sur des chariots avant de les revendre aux familles.

À Centro Habana, Dhayamis Hernández Díaz profite de chaque retour de l’électricité pour remplir les réservoirs de son appartement avant une nouvelle coupure. Dans le quartier chinois, Mirella Martinez, 61 ans, parcourt plusieurs kilomètres avec ses jerricans pour aller chercher l’eau nécessaire à sa famille, qu’elle fait ensuite bouillir et filtre avant de la boire. À Los Sitios, Juan Miguel Reyes, ancien médecin aujourd’hui sans emploi, et Carlos Sánchez figurent parmi ces travailleurs de l’eau qui transportent quotidiennement plusieurs centaines de litres d’eau pour approvisionner des habitants privés d’eau courante. Leur activité témoigne de la manière dont la crise énergétique redessine le quotidien et les moyens de subsistance d’une partie de la population cubaine.