Located in the Democratic Republic of Congo's troubled east, the Ruzizi dam attracts the thousands of bottles, cans and other rubbish carried into Lake Kivu on the border with Rwanda.
"The rainy season has just begun and all the rubbish and plastic products in the gutters are washed into the lake and end up in our facilities at the Ruzizi hydroelectric power station," Jovy Mulemangabo, regional director for South Kivu of the National Electricity Society (SNEL), told AFP on Wednesday.
In recent days, the power station's average output of 20 megawatts has halved, with SNEL being forced to shut down two of the four turbines that generate electricity for both the eastern DRC and neighbouring Burundi.
One turbine has since been restarted.
"Our teams are working night and day to remove the detritus", Mulemangabo said, urging people to "stop this practice of chucking waste into the gutters".
Waste collection and management systems are virtually non-existent in the DRC, and many Congolese dump their rubbish on the road or in lakes and rivers.
Last year, the environment ministry declared the waste issue "a major concern" but no concrete solutions have yet been put forward.
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