adminThis, of course, is well acknowledged but implementation tends to be sluggish. But there is a good example in Chitungwiza where longlasting solutions to the problem of water supply and sanitation have been addressed through similar partnerships.
Earlier this month the Africa Water Facility handed over the US$3 million WASH project to the Chitungwiza Municipality, which aims to improve water, sanitation and hygiene in a town that has been ravaged by cholera and typhoid.
The project, which was started in January 2012 and completed last month, focused on stabilising water and sanitation services as well as enhancing institutional capacity for efficient and sustainable operation and management of the water supply and sewerage services.
Water availability in areas such as Seke increased following the sinking of 10 boreholes and installation of bush pumps.
It also addressed sewage blockages and overflows by installing new house collector sewers.
The AWF says more than 350 000 Chitungwiza residents will benefit from the WASH project, which has enabled the system to remove sewage and provide drinkable water and reduce the incidence of water-borne diseases.
“We give great importance to this project as a means to helping Chitungwiza quickly recover from years of poor water supply and sanitation service delivery and improve people’s lives,” the AWF said in a statement recently.
“It is hoped that the results will also contribute to building stakeholder confidence, catalysing donor resources and generating knowledge on transitional assistance in a post-conflict setting.”
Municipal workers in the water and sewer departments were trained in sewage system management including the operation of pump stations and the maintenance of sewage reticulation system.
Numerous materials, some of them you would not really expect to find in the sewer system, caused blockages and these included plastic bags, undesirable debris and sand accumulation among others.
Chitungwiza, which generates up to 35 megalitres of sewage per day, has found it difficult to efficiently treat this sewer owing to various problems.
The town’s sewage treatment works at Zengeza, which were built in the 1970s and can only treat up to 36 megalitres of sewer per day, have not been working. Similarly, another plants built with Japanese aid in the late 1990s has also been down.
These challenges have over time greatly compromised the levels of hygiene and sanitation in the satellite town. It is not uncommon for sewage to flow freely in the streets and across doorsteps.
The provision of clean water in Chitungwiza is never reliable. Daily demand ranges between 30-45 megalitres versus storage capacity of 47 megalitres.
Most residents only receive water once a week and many refuse to pay for the service citing poor service delivery.
According to the AWF studies the proportion of people receiving water in Chitungwiza is less than 50 percent and water availability is between 50 and 60 percent and is worse in the Seke area.
Partnerships such as the one in Chitungwiza could be negotiated and expanded to include trouble spots such as Harare where water and sewer management is a major challenge and where municipalities have failed to cope on their own.
These game changers could help build sustainable and viable water systems which may help in reducing the risk of disease for the future. Memories are still fresh of the deadly outbreak of cholera, which killed 4 000 people four years ago.
God is faithful.
Online Reporter