adminSallomy Matare Municipal Reporter
Harare City Council has suspended the long-awaited and desperately needed rehabilitation and expansion of Crowborough Waste Water Treatment Plant, which treats the sewage from north-west and western Harare because it does not have the money to do so.
Director for Water Engineer Mabhena Moyo confirmed that work has stopped after the council ran out of money.
“We received some money from the Government, but it was not enough. About US$60 million is needed for full rehabilitation and expansion of the waste water plant” he said.
Rehabilitating the plant will double its capacity to 120 mega-litres a day to cope with population expansion in the 30 years since it was converted to a modern works.
Eng Mabhena said in the meantime, partially treated sewage effluent was being deposited at the city council’s farm where cattle graze.
“What we do is we have a holding point at the treatment plant which we pump in to the farms where there are cattle pastures, where they grow grass. The water is filtered and then self-purifies on the ground and goes back to the treatment plant.”
Harare Mayor Councillor Herbert Gomba said council had plans to expand the capacity of the plant. “We are working on expanding the site’s capacity, with pipes coming from Ruzivo stream crossing to the Crowborough Waste Water Treatment Plant.”
Going into the rainy season with flawed waste water management poses a great threat to the public at large considering that the country has not yet fully recovered from the intermittent outbreaks of cholera and typhoid in the last 18 months.
Online Reporter