Beitbridge water supply sources depleted-Zinwa

Thupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau

THE water supply situation in Beitbridge is likely to remain erratic after the major water supply sources continue to dry up.

Already the water situation is dire following the installation of a prepaid bulk raw water meter at the water treatment plant in Beitbridge to force the local authority to settle its debt of over ZWG3 million.

The council is struggling to raise funds for adequate supplies as it is owed over $45 million by residents, rate payers and Government Departments in bills.

With an estimated population of 100 000, the town requires at least 18 mega litres of water daily.

In a statement on Thursday, the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) said due to the current drought situation obtaining in the country, water levels in Beitbridge Dam 1 have dropped and water outflows from the off river storage has reduced significantly.

“Zinwa supplies bulk raw water to Beitbridge Municipality which the council in turn treats and supplies to residents. Zinwa pumps raw water from the Limpopo River into off-river storage dams during the months when the Limpopo River is in flood. The Municipality of Beitbridge is then supplying water from these off-river storage dams to its water treatment plant,” said Zinwa.

“Pumping from the Limpopo River was limited in the past rainfall season due to the El Nino induced drought. The pumping from the Limpopo River, on average, extends to August of each year. This year, the flows in the Limpopo River were too low to allow pumping as early as April 2024”.

Zinwa said it released water from Zhovhe Dam, on October 2, to augment the raw water in the off – river storage dams where the water levels are also affected by the low inflows during the 2023/24 rainfall season.

The dam is 42.6% full, which affects the outflow rate from the dam.

The authority added that the water from Zhovhe Dam normally takes one month to reach Beitbridge off – river storage dams and that the current releases were now about 5km from Beitbridge, as of Thursday this week.

“Normal supplies are expected to normalize in the coming few days and stakeholders will be updated of any new developments as they occur,” said Zinwa.