A failure in the electrical system at the Smith Comas well field interrupted water pumping to Cárdenas in the province of Matanzas this Saturday, according to the Health Directorate of Cárdenas on Facebook.
According to preliminary information, the malfunction may be related to an electric shock.
Specialists were sent to the site to assess the facilities and determine the extent of the damage, although at the time of publication, there was no estimated timeframe for restoring the service.
"Currently, efforts are being made to diagnose the situation, so there is still no estimated time for the restoration of pumping," stated the Health Directorate of Cárdenas in its announcement.
The local telecenter Telebandera also reported the news, confirming that "specialists are assessing the extent of the damage apparently caused by an electrical discharge."
The Smith Comas well field is the source of the aqueduct for Cárdenas, the second most important city in Matanzas.
From there, a main pipeline 900 mm in diameter and 12 km in length branches out, supplying a network of 265 km and nine pumping stations, designed to ensure up to 786 liters per second for around 78,000 people.
The total dependence of the pumping system on electricity supply turns any malfunction into an immediate water crisis for the entire city.
The interruption occurs amid a water and energy crisis that has worsened throughout 2026 in Matanzas.
Power outages have lasted between 60 and 87 consecutive hours in various areas of the province, paralyzing the pumping systems and leaving entire communities without access to water.
In April 2026, the First Deputy Prime Minister Inés María Chapman publicly acknowledged that over 300,000 residents of Matanzas lacked stability in their water supply, a figure that reflects the structural scope of the problem.
The crisis has also had direct health consequences. In March 2026, the health authorities of Matanzas requested that water be boiled and chlorinated due to outbreaks of hepatitis, and in May active cases were detected in the La Marina neighborhood, in the municipality of Cárdenas.
In May 2026, the town of Cantel, also in the municipality of Cárdenas, was without electricity for more than seven days following the explosion of a transformer, another incident that highlights the fragility of the electrical infrastructure in the area.
The authorities promised to keep the population informed about the developments in the situation and the actions to restore the service, without providing a specific timeline for its recovery at this moment.
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