Chronicle Editor
Leonard Ncube ,Online Reporter
WATER woes continue in Victoria Falls as the city council is struggling to repair a burst pipe at the main pump station where more than 60 percent of water is being lost before distribution.
The resort city residents have been enduring dry taps and the local authority occasionally supplies residents using bowsers.
This is because the city pumps water using a small pump whose capacity cannot sustain demand and efforts to install a bigger pump have increased problems emanating from continued burst and leaks because the pipes are aged.
Victoria Falls City Council took over rights to pump water from the Zambezi River from the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) but inherited old pumping system that needs replacement.
Briefing the media after swearing in of councillors, the city’s engineer Mrs Sherinah Sibanda said rigorous efforts are underway to upgrade the water system through the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (Wash) programme that also involves upgrading sewer services.
Victoria Falls is also in the process of implementing a US$4 million wash programme where two mega reservoirs are being constructed in Mkhosana to improve storage and distribution.
Mrs Sibanda said the local authority is working hard to address water challenges which have seen residents going for days without water especially in high density suburbs and high lying areas.
“We took over from Zinwa a raw water pump station and when we did that the pump station was in a deplorable state. So there was only one small pump that was working and our first task was to get that one pump station working and we bought a new bigger pump using Devolution Funds.
“We installed the pump and unfortunately the pump station itself which is part of the bigger Wash project needs to be reconstructed, actually we need a new pump station altogether as we are using a temporary pump station,” said Mrs Sibanda.
He said repair work caused more leaks resulting in suspension of pumping.
“When we installed that pump, vibration from the bigger pump dismantled the concrete ramp where the pump was mounted resulting in us having to redo the concrete ramp and stop using the bigger pump and continue using the smaller pump.
“Also because we are using an old pipeline that resulted in the pipelines having numerous leakages so we had to then repair the leakages. Unfortunately two of the leakages, the pipes are encased in concrete slabs so we had to do one leakage at the raw water pump station and also a burst pipe at the golf course having stopped pumping.
“We are having a major leakage also at the treatment plant which has a very huge concreate encasing and so we had to hire a company from Bulawayo to come and dismantle that concrete so that we can repair that leakage. The company is onsite using a chemical to dismantle that concrete and we were still pumping as they were dismantling it but then early in the morning (Thursday) we discovered that that leakage where they are dismantling had increased resulting in more than 60 percent of water being lost before being distributed,” said Mrs Sibanda.
She said the council was forced to stop pumping immediately and also to engage another contractor to do a rigorous approach using an excavator to dismantle the concrete to do the repairs.
She said there was hope to resume pumping fully once all repairs are completed.
She appealed to residents to bear with council as it works on the leakages to be able to supply more water and to appreciate that the pipeline is old so much so that even when a bigger pump is installed, leakages will increase because the pipeline is old.
The smaller pump cannot cope with demand during the dry season.
Town Clerk Mr Ronnie Dube reiterated the call for residents to bear with the council as the water situation is being addressed.
Online Reporter