Vusumuzi Dube, Deputy Radar Editor
FOUR of Bulawayo’s five sewage treatment plants have failed to meet Environmental Management Agency (EMA) compliance requirements, exposing weaknesses in the city’s wastewater management system at a time when non-revenue water losses have surged to 57 percent against an annual target of 30 percent.
The latest Bulawayo City Council Water and Sanitation Department performance report paints a concerning picture of the city’s water and sanitation infrastructure, with declining reclaimed-water production, deteriorating effluent compliance and bacteriological water quality, as well as mounting sewer backlogs.
The report identifies the failure of four sewage treatment plants to meet EMA standards, alongside a shortage of operational vehicles and excessive water losses, as some of the department’s critical risks.
“Overall position: water availability remained stable and reclaimed-water production decreased to 9.02 cubic metres from 17.75 cubic metres, while sewer backlogs, bacteriological water quality and effluent compliance deteriorated. Fleet, transformer and bulk-pump reliability remained the fastest levers for service recovery,” reads the report.
The local authority further noted that four out of the five sewage treatment plants have been failing EMA compliance.
The department is also struggling with a severely depleted vehicle fleet, with 25 of its 58 vehicles grounded, representing about 43 percent of its total fleet.
“Council must prioritise repair and expansion of departmental service fleet, root-cause driver of choke, leak and sampling delays,” reads the report.
It further recommends the procurement of a dedicated Tractor-Loader-Backhoe (TLB) to improve the department’s capacity to respond to emergencies.
The vehicle challenges come against a backdrop of mounting pressure on the city’s sewer network, although council recorded some improvement in clearing blockages.
The report lists the clearing of 2 116 sewer chokes in September, an increase of 506 compared to August, as one of the department’s strengths.
Water losses remain another major concern, with non-revenue water standing at 57 percent against the annual target of 30 percent.
This means council is losing a significant proportion of treated water through physical and commercial losses before it can generate revenue from the supply.
Council has identified electricity infrastructure and bulk-pump reliability as other critical areas requiring attention.
The report recommends that the local authority “fast-track transformer refurbishment at Ncema and Fernhill, and complete power-factor correction at all major pump stations”.
It also identifies shortages of treatment chemicals and problems with sampling vehicles as obstacles to restoring compliance at the sewage treatment plants.
“Address reagent supply gaps and sampling-vehicle repairs to restore EMA-compliant effluent monitoring across all treatment plants,” reads another recommendation.
