Gweru water woes continue despite full dams

GWERU City Council has announced that despite its water supply dams being over 70 percent full, residents will continue to experience persistent water shortages due to the city’s outdated water distribution infrastructure, along with frequent breakdowns of water pumps and motors.

The city’s aging infrastructure, originally installed in the 1950s, was designed to serve a population of about 300 000.

Today, it struggles to efficiently distribute water from the dams to households, leading to frequent disruptions in supply. Efforts to modernise the water distribution system have been hampered by financial constraints.

The city’s population has grown exponentially, exceeding 1,2 million residents with over half of the population lacking access to clean water.

This significant disparity puts a substantial portion of the population at risk of contracting water-borne diseases, such as cholera and typhoid, highlighting the urgent need for infrastructure upgrades and expansion.

Some residents have devised alternatives, which include drilling boreholes, to secure water. In an interview, Gweru City Council public relations and communications officer, Ms Vimbai Chingwaramusee said the city’s water demand has increased significantly over the years, with a daily requirement of over 120 megalitres.

Currently, the city council is pumping 67 megalitres of water per day. “While the main water supply dams, Gwenhoro and Amapongobgwe are currently 70 percent and 80 percent full, equipment breakdowns have reduced Gwenhoro Dam’s output to an average of 35 to 40 megalitres per day,” she said.

Ms Chingwaramusee said they were forced to introduce water rationing due to the outdated water distribution system, which urgently requires upgrading.

“While the population is growing, the current infrastructure limitations hinder the ability to increase water supply.
“To address this, a phased rehabilitation of the water reticulation system is planned, with the goal of gradual improvements,” she said.

“Additionally, a motion has been proposed to acquire new equipment and enhance water availability for the residents, marking a step towards alleviating the water challenges faced by the community.”

According to the peer review committee’s recent findings, the local authority needs to modernise its water reticulation system to minimise leakages.

The committee also noted that the city will continue to incur labour, power and water treatment costs if the problem is not resolved.

The review committee said the council surpassed the water leaks acceptable levels by more than 50 percent, a situation that pointed to heavy loss of treated water in the city.

The local authority has a five-day water rationing schedule because of insufficient water pumping capacity at Gwenhoro Dam as the city council is using three water pumps instead of six.

The Gweru City Council is battling to address the city’s perennial water woes, which have often left suburbs in high-lying areas such as Ridgemont, Mkoba 1, 3, 14, 15, 19, and 20 without water for months.