AT first light in Tanzania’s main city Dar es Salaam, some of its six million residents begin their day with a frantic search for water.
Christmas is approaching, but the festive mood is dampened by the dry pipes, as the city experiences serious water shortages.
In some homes, plastic containers are stacked outside the door, ready to be carried at a moment’s notice whenever word spreads that a nearby tap is flowing again.
City authorities ration water. Homes get it once a week, but the wait can stretch for weeks for some families. The crisis, caused by a drought and rising demand, has persisted for months.
Many people are forced to turn to private vendors, who source their water from boreholes and tanks. They are a respite for thousands of families, but their high costs are a heavy burden to low-income households.
Cedric Ndosi, who lives in Madale, north-west of the city, plans to host guests for lunch on Christmas Day, but he is worried.
“Christmas is here and there is no water in our taps. We are forced to buy water from shops for cooking and from water trucks for bathing, but it’s expensive.
“We were used to spending money on drinks, but now even water for cooking has become an added cost,” he adds.
Furaha Awadhi, a mother of two living in Tegeta on the outskirts of the city, says the price of water has risen from $4 (£3) for 1,000 litres to $10.
Cedric Mushi, who lives in Ubungo, west of Dar es Salaam, says that whenever the city authorities switch on the taps, he makes sure that he stores water so that her family does not suffer.
“It comes only once a week, usually in the late hours of the night,” he says.
As a result of the prolonged dry spell since the end of the rainy season in May, the water levels in rivers and groundwater that the city depends on has sharply reduced, officials say.
The authorities say this has forced a cut in supplies from water treatment plants. They also blame leaking pipes in the distribution network, leading to water being lost.
Dar es Salaam, on the Indian Ocean coast, is among Africa’s fastest-growing cities. Over the past two decades, its population has more than doubled as an increasing number of people move in, looking for better economic opportunities.
New neighbourhoods have spread far beyond the city’s original boundaries, and even in good times, the available water supply could barely serve its inhabitants.
For the festive season, Joyce Fredrick is planning to escape the heat and the inconveniences of having no water.
“Here in Dar es Salaam it’s extremely hot, no rain, no water. We are going to Arusha (in the north), where at least the weather is more friendly,” she tells the BBC.