Casablanca Residents Face Ongoing Drinking Water Crisis in Upscale Neighborhood

For more than a year and a half, the residents of Rahal Ben Ahmed Street, in the Belvédère neighborhood of Casablanca, have been suffering from a real problem related to the pollution of the drinking water supplied by Lydec. February 2023 marks the beginning of these sufferings. Their taps are pouring out foul-smelling water. Despite the complaints filed by the residents on February 18, 2023, the company has not been able to find the best alternative to provide them with drinking water to this day. The problem of polluted water has turned the lives of the residents of Rahal Ben Ahmed Street into hell, said Abdelkarim, one of them, to Hespress. Referring to the efforts made by the company following the residents’ complaints, he stated that Lydec’s intervention was initially temporary, consisting of opening new drainage pipes due to the corrosion of the old pipes, which distributed the level of pollution to the other connection channels of the street. According to him, this strategy has reduced the effects on the water coming out of the taps, but not for long. This problem arose last April, with the start of the work to replace the drinking water pipes in the street. According to Abdelkarim, the residents now have to buy hundreds of liters of water daily to meet their natural needs for consumption, cooking and hygiene. Otherwise, they will be forced to consume the polluted water supplied by Lydec.

Said, another resident, confirms the existence of the problem. He recounts having questioned the Lydec officials about their plans to provide clean drinking water, and that they asked him to be patient. A response he says he did not appreciate. The residents continue to live in a state of uncertainty, fearing daily contamination of the water by toxic substances, in the absence of laboratory analysis results after the tests carried out by "Lydec" on water samples, he deplored. According to Said, it is obvious that the pipes were dilapidated and required complete replacement, but the ongoing work only started last April, much later than planned. In the absence of an alternative, the residents are forced to use water from outside sources to meet their basic needs, the witness also said, adding that they are still filing complaints with the company’s agencies without response.