Bulawayo Council working on Wastewater Pre-Feasibility Study

Business Writer

THE Bulawayo City Council is developing a Wastewater pre-feasibility report after it secured a € 100 000 grant for the study last year, the municipality has said.

As per the latest council agenda, the Future Water Supplies and Water Action committee said the pre-feasibility study is aimed to offer a foundation for upcoming detailed feasibility studies and enhance the grasp of financing approaches and tools to encourage funding acquisition for infrastructure projects.

Additionally, the study aimed to suggest interventions for enhancing re-use potential as a means of adjusting to mitigate the water supply-demand gap, which is frequently worsened by recurrent dry spells.

 “In 2023 the City received €100 000 to conduct a pre-feasibility study of Wastewater re-use to augment the gap between freshwater supplied and the present required demand,” reads part of the report.

Council secured about US$110 000 from a Dutch entity, Vitens Evides International (VIE), to conduct a one-year feasibility and public-private partnership study for waste recycling.

VEI started working with BCC in 2017 under a Nuffic-sponsored training project and in 2018, a Water Operator’s Partnership (WOP) under the umbrella of WaterWorX (WWX) started.

The WWX WOP is expected to contribute positively to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 in                                                                                             Bulawayo by focusing on improving operational and financial performance as well as increasing access to and reliability of water supply to all consumers.

The funding from VIE is within the framework of the WaterWorX programme.

Council introduced a daily water-shedding schedule due to the effects of climate change which have resulted in a decline in water levels in the city’s supply dams.