adminMidlands Correspondent
Gweru and its environs entered the third day yesterday without water following a pipe burst at the city’s main water source, Gwenoro Dam on Saturday. High ground areas have been the most affected, forcing residents to turn to boreholes and unprotected wells. The city’s acting director engineering services, Engineer Praymore Mhlanga said council engineers were working flat out to repair the burst pipe.
He said he expected normal pumping service to resume in the next two days.
Eng Mhlanga said the delays in resuming normal service has been caused by excavators which were stuck in the mud due to the soaked ground.
He said they had to use two front end loaders to remove the excavators.
“We experienced a leak that we detected on the pumping mains near the pump station in Gwenoro but this leak became serious on Friday afternoon forcing us to suspend pumping.
“Our team faced problems during the operation since the ground was soaked but we managed to overcome the challenges. We are now doing two things at a time that is removing the mud and pumping out water, hence the slow pace in addressing the situation.
“We are, however, confident that by tomorrow morning we should have exposed the affected area and then put in place temporary measures that will enable us to resume pumping while we workout a long term solution. We expect normal service to resume within the next 48 hours,” he said.
Mhlanga said the city’s pumping capacity can only meet 40 percent of the city’s daily consumption.
derick.khumalo