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Residents in Port Moresby have been warned to expect dry taps from midnight as Water PNG switches off the Mt Eriama treatment plant due to increased debris flowing from the Rouna 2 dam.

The situation follows maintenance work by PNG Power to clear silt and replace electrical cables at the dam, a process that has pushed large amounts of sediment into the water intake system.

 PNG capital faces temporary water outage after works at Rouna 2 [photo by WaterPNG]

Water PNG chief executive James Young said the dirty water makes treatment difficult, forcing operators to reduce or halt production until conditions improve.

He said the length of the interruption remains uncertain and will depend entirely on how much debris continues to move through the system overnight and into tomorrow.

“I wouldn’t expect us to shut down until very early in the morning. The problem is we don’t know how much debris is sitting in the dam. It could be minor and people may not notice, but if the water is very dirty it could last around 24 hours,” Mr Young said.

He said the maintenance work was coordinated between Water PNG and PNG Power, stressing that such shutdowns are unavoidable given the age of the infrastructure.

Much of Port Moresby’s water system was built more than 60 years ago, and population growth since then has placed heavy pressure on facilities that were never designed to support current demand levels.

Mr Young said the end-of-year period was chosen deliberately because water usage drops during this time, with many offices, schools and businesses closed or running on reduced schedules.

This, he said, helps reduce the impact on families, health centres and the wider economy compared to carrying out similar works during a normal working week.

He added that Water PNG will continue monitoring water quality, noting that the utility would normally rely on 24 to 48 hours of treated water storage to absorb short disruptions.

“Port Moresby simply does not have enough storage capacity, so even short maintenance activities can affect supply. This is a long-standing issue, and that’s why new reservoirs and network upgrades are a key focus under our development partner-supported programs,” Mr Young said.

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