Dry taps amid spilling dams

Patrick Chitumba, Midlands Bureau Chief
In an ironic twist, Gweru supply dams are spilling but residents are still facing water challenges.

According to weekly national dam statistics from the Zimbabwe National Water Authority, Gweru’s water supply dams which include Gwenhoro, Amapongogwe and Whitewaters are about 101 percent full.

They are all spilling following incessant rains that pounded the Midlands province and the country at large.
Council had to evacuate some residents after their homes were flooded.

Mr Xavier Matarutse from Mkoba 1 suburb said despite the heavy rains, he wakes up at 5am to look for water from a council tap that was installed near Mkoba 1 Police Station following complaints from residents that water did not reach the area.

“Every day around 5am I wake up to queue at the council tap. By 9am, the tap will be dry. At times I do water harvesting for other uses such as laundry and bathing. For drinking, I have to queue,” he said.

In Mkoba 2, there is a faulty valve at Mkoba Hall while in Mkoba 15 there is also a leaking valve which residents take advantage of and fetch water for domestic use.

Gweru Residents and Rate Payers Association director Mr Cornilia Selipwe said the water challenge bedevilling Gweru was due to poor management by the city fathers.

He said priority should be given to rehabilitating the old water reticulation infrastructure.

“Number one problem from our council is sincerity, they are not sincere. When you listen to them talking about revenue collection, you will think that when they get the money, they will use it in rehabilitating the infrastructure that gives them the revenue. We always have burst water pipes and a lot of treated water is lost before reaching the residents,” said Mr Selipwe.

He said the water supply dams for Gweru were spilling and that should have resulted in council stopping water shedding.

When council introduced water rationing mid-last year, the city fathers cited dwindling water levels in the main water supply dam Gwenhoro.

Council started pumping about 45 megalitres of water per day against a capacity for 60 megalitres which they had been pumping from around January last year.

The 60 megalitres a day fall short of over 80 megalitres which are needed to supply the whole of Gweru daily.

With 45 megalitres, some suburbs especially those in high areas such as Mkoba 1, 14, 15, 18, 20 and Ridgemont go for weeks without water.

When council started pumping 45 megalitres, they started talking of decommissioning Gwenhoro Dam whose water level had gone down to about 13 percent.

Council then started looking for about $1 million to purchase low level water pumps which were to pump water from another dam, Amapongogwe.

Amapongogwe was at about 45 percent full and council was optimistic that the water would take the city to the rainy season, which it did.

Government intervened and bought GCC three high level water pumps for Amapongogwe at about US$500 000 much to the relief of residents.

Unfortunately, instead of pumping capacity improving from 45 mega litres a day, it went down to 28 mega litres.

Council is still pumping 28 mega litres and this has seen water shedding intensifying.

As a result, residents are harvesting water from their roofs while others rely on council boreholes and wells.

Long queues are a common sight at water points while other residents fetch water from leaking council valves.

Last week, council received three high lift pumps for Gwenhoro Dam at a cost of about US$500 000.

Addressing members of the media at a brief function to receive the high lift pumps from South Africa, Mayor Councillor Josiah Makombe said it is the dream of the city fathers to see water supply improving across the city.

He said the new pumps were going to complement the other pumps at Gwenhoro and Amapongogwe dams for water supply to improve.

“Our residents have been asking us why we are not pumping enough water to supply the city every day. This has been a question that has been difficult to respond to but we have received these three water pumps and they are expected to increase water supply for the city once they are installed,” he said.

“If council gives residents water all the time, the residents will definitely pay rates.”

Clr Makombe said old pumps are now prone to bursting. He said another challenge is power as Gwenhoro water treatment plant is always having electricity outages.

Clr Makombe said efforts to have a special dedicated line for the water pumping station have not been fruitful.

“Yes, we have the water pumps and they are now six and can improve water supply. But we still have old pipes challenge. The whole water reticulation system needs to be changed. We need a dedicated power line and so these are some of the challenges we will have along the way,” he said.

Clr Makombe said they expected the installation of the new pumps to be completed soon.

In the meantime, residents should brace for continued water rationing from GCC.

GCC spokesperson Ms Vimbai Chingwaramusee said council was working on rehabilitating the main water pump from Gwenhoro.

The main water pipe, she said, was old and needed new fittings to withstand high volumes of water.

“Our engineers are on site working on the problem, “ she told Chronicle.