Patrick Chitumba [email protected]
GWERU City Council is planning to rehabilitate ageing pipelines and upgrade its water treatment plant to reduce water losses and improve supplies as it reviews its development priorities.
Gweru Mayor Councillor Martin Chivhoko said this during an interview on the sidelines of a strategic plan review workshop in Bulawayo, where the council was reviewing its performance targets and strategies to improve service delivery.
He said the city was losing between 30 and 40 percent of its water through non-revenue water, largely due to burst pipes and leakages across the distribution network.
“We want to curb these losses by improving our pipelines, repairing damaged pipes and ensuring that major water leaks are attended to promptly,” said Clr Chivhoko.
The mayor said Gweru was pumping between 60 and 62 megalitres of water a day, but a recent major pipeline burst had disrupted supplies, reducing the number of operational pumps from six to two.
“Most suburbs receive water, but this week we have been facing challenges because of a major burst along the pipeline. As a result, we have gone down from six pumps to about two pumps.
“Once we repair the burst, we expect supplies to improve across most suburbs,” he said.
Clr Chivhoko said the city’s water treatment plant had an installed capacity of 67 megalitres per day, against a required capacity of 125 megalitres, highlighting the need to upgrade the facility to meet growing demand.
The council plans to increase the plant’s capacity to between 120 and 125 megalitres per day as part of efforts to improve water availability across the city.
He said the proposed upgrade and pipeline rehabilitation formed part of the council’s development plans, although detailed costs and implementation requirements were still being worked out.
Clr Chivhoko said the council was also engaging private property developers to ensure that new developments were supported by adequate water infrastructure.
Developers were expected to contribute towards infrastructure, including pumps and pipelines, to facilitate connections to the municipal water supply without placing excessive pressure on existing systems.
The strategic plan review workshop is part of the council’s efforts to assess its performance, establish measurable targets and align its programmes with residents’ needs and the city’s development priorities.
