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THE Harare City Council has dismissed reports that human waste contaminated boreholes dotted around the city, but rather said it was other mammals’ waste.
This comes after water samples were tested from several boreholes in Budiriro, Glen Norah and Mbare following an outbreak of typhoid in the areas. The 15 boreholes tested were then decommissioned after the water was found to be contaminated.
Council spokesperson, Innocent Ruwende, said test results do not show that it is human waste as reported by some media outlets.
“The City of Harare has noted recent reports in the media that 15 boreholes in the city were found to have human faecal matter. E-coli is an indicator organism, indicating possible faecal contamination.
“However, the tests done do not indicate that it’s human, but could be from other mammals as E-coli comes from both,” said Ruwende.
Residents have also expressed concerns about council’s failure to provide residents with clean water, resulting in outbreaks of waterborne diseases. Ruwende said council is working tirelessly in a bid to ensure that they supply clean and safe water to residents.
“The standard procedure is that any water source found contaminated by E-coli is disinfected with chlorine or HtH to make it safe. The source of contamination is investigated and dealt with to prevent further contamination,” he said.
Ruwende also said council has distributed aqua tablets and buckets in the affected areas. It has also installed inline chlorinator in boreholes to fight the outbreaks.
“The council has also set up water point committees to manage the water sources; started health and hygiene education dissemination on prevention and control of diarrhoeal diseases and also intensified surveillance and response to alerts,” he added.
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter