Maravi

(TALKZIMBABWE) Harare water supplies resume

Harare water supplies resume
Staff reporter
Wed, 03 Dec 2008 02:29:00 +0000

THE Zimbabwe National Water Authority has resumed pumping water into Harare on Tuesday, a day after supplies were shut down completely, forcing many businesses and government departments to close. Harare's Central Business District was the first to receive water, but at very low pressure. Residents in The Avenues in Harare reported that water was flowing, "but very slowly".

"We were beginning to have a crisis as toilets could not be flushed, but today we were ablt to do that as water supplies resumed," said Nyasha Katendere who spoke to the Zimbabwe Guardian.

"The situation was unbearable, but we hope the resumption of supplies is now permanent," she added.

A survey by this reporter, however, revealed that many surburbs in Harare remained dry as Zinwa was still struggling with procurement of essential chemicals needed for water purification.

Although supplies had resumed, many residents in Harare and nationwide remained desperate for water, with most of them foraging from manholes, roadside pools and open standpipes in areas that had water.

"We were lucky to get water from our neighbour who has a borehole and a swimming pool," said Chengetai Kamoto of Greendale.

"This cannot be a permanent situation. My neighbours have been very helpful, but I cannot push my luck."

Zinwa reported Monday that it was forced to stop pumping into the water reticulation system for Harare when purification chemicals ran out.

The Zimbabwe Guardian understands that ons of raw effluent were pumped into Lake Chivero, Harare's main source of water, because the treatment works had collapse. This exacerbated the problem and water could not be drawn from Chivero.

Tsungirai Shoriwa, spokesperson for Zinwa reported on Monday that some chemicals had been delivered on Monday, allowing pumping to resume later to the city centre and a few other areas.

"Other areas are expected to start accessing water as the week progresses, but it depends on the availability of chemicals," he said.

Harare City Council was the first to benefit from the resumption of supplies and workers were encouraged to report for work on Tuesday and for the rest of the week.

PARTNERSHIP IN WATER PURIFICATION EFFORTS

South Africa’s Department of Health and Social Development is involved in Zimbabwe's water purification efforts.

The department will assist the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) in water purification and sewer treatment. Te two authorities say they will target water supply and sewer reticulation, particularly where effluent is flowing into the Limpopo River, which is the main source of water for both Beitbridge and Musina residents.

South Africa entered into an agreement with the Musina Municipality to help in transporting adequate clean water to Beitbridge.

Once the water treatment starts functioning properly, the water tanks would be connected to the Zinwa purification plant through the main pipeline.

Labels: CHOLERA, HARARE, UTILITIES, WATER

posted by MrK @ 9:39 AM