Medellín Water Rationing Suspended: EPM Wants 92 Litres Saved

Medellín water rationing is suspended — for now. Mayor Federico Gutiérrez and EPM announced on September 2, 2026 that the scheduled overnight water cuts in six comunas — three calendar days after they began August 31 — would pause from Thursday, September 3 through Monday, September 7. Residents hit the required savings within the first two days of the measure, per El Colombiano and Semana.

Quick answer: Overnight water cuts are paused through Monday, September 7, 2026, for the 10 circuits fed by the Piedras Blancas system — the same Popular, Manrique, Villa Hermosa, Aranjuez, La Candelaria and Buenos Aires zones that went on the every-other-night cycle August 31. The pause is conditional: EPM reviews consumption daily, and cuts can resume, or expand citywide, if savings slip before the September 7 evaluation.

Why Medellín water rationing was suspended after just three days

EPM’s rationing began August 31 to cover a roughly 120-litre-per-second deficit in the Piedras Blancas system — about 10.4 million litres, or roughly five Olympic swimming pools, of water a day — as reservoir inflows kept falling through the dry season, per Infobae. That shortfall wasn’t just a supply problem: users in the Piedras Blancas service area consumed roughly 48 million extra litres in the week of August 18–24, 2026 alone compared with the week before, per Infobae — the demand spike that made a household-savings target, rather than just waiting out the dry season, the fix EPM reached for. Within the first two days of the cuts, households, businesses and institutions banked savings close to that same 120 litres per second — roughly 10 million litres daily — enough for Gutiérrez to call off the overnight cuts rather than run the full month originally planned, per Colombia One and Telemedellín. The full month-long plan would have covered roughly 109,235 water installations — about 300,000 people — per El Colombiano.

“A partir de hoy no se aplican los cortes de agua en la zona nororiental y centro oriental de Medellín,” Gutiérrez said, while warning that responsible consumption — not a return to normal — is what’s keeping the taps on, per El Colombiano. EPM manager John Maya Salazar was blunter about the reservoir’s options: “En el agua no tenemos ninguna otra opción.”

The 92-litre target — and what happens if the city misses it

EPM is measuring a five-day household savings goal daily through September 7, per Telemedellín:

• 92 litres (about 24 gallons) per household per day in the nororiental and centro-oriental circuits served by Piedras Blancas — the zones actually under the cuts.
• 70 litres per household per day for the rest of Medellín and the nine other Valle de Aburrá municipalities on EPM’s system, which were never on the cutoff schedule but are being asked to help close the citywide gap. (EPM’s citywide figure has been reported at both 70 and 79 litres across outlets; most, including Telemedellín, cite 70.)

If the numbers hold, the pause can continue past September 7. If they slip, officials have said rationing can resume in the original six comunas and, if the deficit widens, expand to other parts of the city and metro area, per Colombia One and Semana. For scale, a single faucet left running for ten minutes wastes 60–120 litres, per Semana — so the target is realistically one or two fixable habits, not a drastic lifestyle change. But it requires the whole city to follow through, not just the comunas that were cut off.

What this means if you live in Medellín

• Outside the six affected comunas — including El Poblado and Laureles, plus metro municipalities like Envigado and Sabaneta: you were never on the cutoff schedule, but EPM is asking you too to cut daily use by 70 litres per household — skip hosing down cars or sidewalks and fix running toilets or leaky taps.
• Inside the affected zones: overnight cuts are paused through Monday, September 7, but keep a water reserve on hand — EPM has said it would restart the same 6 p.m.–5 a.m. schedule if the review goes badly.
• Leaks: report them at 604 4444 115, per EPM’s own customer-service page. EPM has repeatedly flagged unreported leaks and open-hose washing as avoidable waste on top of the drought-driven shortfall.

This is the second reversal in Medellín’s water story in under two weeks: EPM went from a low-stream-flow risk alert in late August to a full rationing calendar within days, and has now paused that calendar just as fast. The underlying driver hasn’t gone away — EPM has tied the Piedras Blancas shortfall to an intensifying El Niño pattern squeezing reservoir inflows across the region, per El Colombiano. Expect this to stay a week-to-week story through the rest of the dry season. It’s also one more variable for renters and homeowners in the affected comunas to budget around this month, alongside rising living costs.

Frequently asked questions

Is the water rationing over in Medellín?

No — it’s suspended, not cancelled. EPM reviews consumption daily and will announce whether cuts resume after evaluating results through Monday, September 7, 2026.

Do I need to cut my water use if I live outside the six comunas?

Yes — EPM is asking every household in Medellín and the Valle de Aburrá to save roughly 70 litres a day, because the savings goal is citywide.

Could the cuts expand to new neighborhoods?

Officials have said that’s possible if the deficit widens or the five-day target isn’t met — no additional comunas have been named as of September 3, 2026.

When would Medellín water rationing resume in the six comunas?

If EPM’s daily review shows savings slipping before Monday, September 7, the utility has said it would restart the same 6 p.m.–5 a.m. overnight cutoff schedule in the original six comunas.

What is the 92-litre savings target?

It’s the daily household savings EPM wants from the nororiental and centro-oriental circuits fed by Piedras Blancas — roughly what one running faucet wastes in 10–15 minutes, per Semana’s reporting.

This article reflects public statements from Mayor Federico Gutiérrez and EPM as reported by El Colombiano, Semana, Infobae, Telemedellín and Colombia One as of September 3, 2026. Savings figures, deficit estimates and the September 7 review date are EPM’s own projections and can change — check EPM’s official channels or the WhatsApp assistant “Ema” (+57 302 300 0115) before relying on a specific date.