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This is done to prevent any sewer blockages as we anticipate longer periods without water in the reticulation system. Please note that this is in addition to the normal flushing that will occur during the day,” said Mrs Mpofu.
She said there was a need to schedule a flush exercise of the reticulation system in all areas that do not use septic tanks.
“This is due to the recent water shedding programme by council which has seen a reduced amount of water entering the sewer system,” she said.
Mrs Mpofu urged Bulawayo residents to take part in the exercise to minimise damage to the sewer system.
The big flush was suggested by the Director of Engineering Services, Engineer Simela Dube, during a consultative meeting of the Bulawayo Water Crisis Committee.
“We need to flush our toilets at the same time to push all the waste that will just be under the surface as residents would be using little water to flush toilets during water shedding hours,” said Eng Dube.
He said if the big flush was not adopted, residents would be exposed to diseases as there would be more pipe bursts.
This is not the first time the city has used the big flush, as it was adopted when there was water shedding in 2007.
Meanwhile, some suburbs are now going for days without water while some are only getting it at night.
Residents have raised concern over council’s failure to stick to the publicised water shedding timetable.
Parts of Entumbane, Harrisvale, Old Pumula, New Magwegwe and New Lobengula have gone for six days without water.
Mrs Siwinile Tshuma from New Magwegwe near Mhali Primary School said she had gone for two weeks without running water.
“We have to walk to nearby houses in the suburb to fetch water. Before, water used to come for two hours in the middle of the night. We had to risk our lives going outside at night to fetch water as there are many cases of mugging in the area,” said Mrs Tshuma.
A resident from New Lobengula, Mr Wisdom Moyo, said the scheduled timetable was unreliable since they have gone for five days without water.
“We have not had running water since Sunday, we have to fetch water from boreholes in neighbouring suburbs like Luveve and Magwegwe. At times we queue for hours to draw water,” said Mr Moyo.
Mr Arthur Makhurane of New Magwegwe Flats said they have gone for a week without running water.
“We are depending on water brought by city council bowsers,” said Mr Makhurane.
He said they now feared an outbreak of waterborne diseases such as cholera and typhoid as residents now resorted to using the nearby bushes to relieve themselves.
Mrs Mpofu blamed technical faults for the city council’s failure to adhere to the schedule.
“Residents should be aware that we are facing a water crisis, water unlike electricity takes long to move from the nearest reservoir to the point of consumption particularly if the latter is far. Also water flows to low lying areas first.
“Sometimes an area will not receive water promptly because of water pipe bursts or simply low pressure due to low reservoir levels,” she said.
“The residential areas that are not receiving water are all high altitude areas and will always be the last to receive water.
“The very high altitude areas such as Magwegwe along Amnyama road area will not receive water when the supply water mains have no water or there is little water in the pipe line for the pumps to suck and pump to the elevated water tank at Magwegwe. The council normally uses water bowsers to supply water to such areas until they start receiving water,” said Mrs Mpofu.
The city recently introduced a 72-hour water shedding schedule every week in a bid to stretch dwindling supplies to the next rainy season.
Council has warned that the shedding duration could increase to 96 hours in the coming weeks if residents continued to use water above stipulated limits.
Two of the city’s five supply dams, Lower Ncema and Umzingwane, have already been decommissioned.
Upper Ncema and Inyankuni are likely to follow in November and December leaving Insiza as the city’s only supply dam.
Online Reporter