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The city is producing an average of 600 mega litres of water per day against a daily demand of 1 400 mega litres.
Harare Mayor Mr Muchadeyi Masunda said council would like to construct three additional water works to produce at least 1 920 mega litres a day.
Mr Masunda was speaking while addressing journalists in Harare on Wednesday evening.
“We would like to construct water works at Kunzvi Dam as has been proposed 30 years ago and this will cost US$539 million and we expect to get 250 mega litres of water,” he said.
“Musami Dam is the other site where we expect 470 mega litres of water and it will cost US$886 million. Mazowe Dam is the other mega long term project which needs US$1,5 billion and will provide us with 1 200 mega litres.”
Mr Masunda said the council was set to fund all of the projects as it has adopted a model of running the city like a business.
“Our aim is to source funds for our projects without Government’s hand. The city has so many business enterprises and these must be utilised for the development of the city,” he said.
City officials attributed the water shortages experienced in the city yesterday to maintenance works being carried out. Parts of Glen View, Budiriro, Highfield and Glen-Norah, which usually receive water in the early hours of the morning and late at night, have gone for more than a week without supplies.
“There are major maintenance works that are happening at Morton Jaffray, while council is repairing pumps, the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority is repairing transformers at the same place,” town clerk Tendai Mahachi said in an interview yesterday.
He said the maintenance works meant the water department was pumping less water.
The major maintenance works, Dr Mahachi said, were likely to continue for the next seven months as the city battles with rectifying the extreme water shortages being experienced by residents. Suburbs such as Mabvuku, Tafara, Rhodesville, Highlands, Chisipite, Greencroft, Mandara, Borrowdale, Greendale and some parts of Msasa have gone for years without tap water.
Ruwa, which also gets supplies from Harare, has had water problems for years.
Students at the University of Zimbabwe said yesterday that they were now concentrating on searching for water elsewhere as the college has gone without water since last week.
Online Reporter