adminInnocent Ruwende Municipal Reporter
HARARE City Council has assured residents that the water it pumps into homes meet World Health Organisation standards and is safe to drink, challenging those doubting to carry out tests with city officials. In an interview yesterday, council spokesperson Mr Leslie Gwindi said council collects samples regularly to check the safety of its water.
This comes after an independent survey allegedly showed the presence of coliform bacteria from a water sample taken in Mbare.
Coliforms are a broad class of bacteria found in the environment and these may include human waste and that of other warm-blooded animals.
The presence of the bacteria in drinking water may indicate a possible presence of harmful, disease-causing organisms.
“At no point has our water been substandard. We have a stringent and clear procedure of water sampling, and have a whole laboratory that deals with that and in the chain our water also goes to the Standards Association of Zimbabwe. In the past as you might realise there were such discussions with someone who had similar issues concerning our water and it turned out that he was not being honest. What is in contention is the procedure or point at which the sample was taken and the procedure that they used to carry out the tests,” he said.
He said council had laid down procedures of testing water, adding that the city was inviting anyone to sample with them.
Mr Gwindi said the survey which allegedly showed that the city’s water was contaminated might be flawed in that the water may have been contaminated by the container they used to extract the sample or by other factors at the sampling point.
Council recently sourced US$144 million from China’s Import and Export Bank which would be channelled to the rehabilitation of Morton Jaffray Water Treatment Plant and the Prince Edward Water Station.
The rehabilitation is expected to ease the city’s water woes and would go a long way in addressing quality problems considering the serious pollution of the downstream Lake Chivero.
Experts have attributed the problems to population growth, inadequate maintenance of wastewater treatment plants among other problems.
Meanwhile, town clerk Dr Tendai Mahachi says in compliance with the ministerial directive on writing off of rates arrears, the city had since met its obligation.
“Therefore all customers were expected to religiously and timeously honour their monthly payments with effect from July 2013. It is regretted that the council records are showing that some of the customers have already fallen behind with their payments which situation is unacceptable.
“In view of the above therefore, please be advised that with immediate effect, a blitz is being carried out to disconnect water supplies and institute legal action in order to make sure that all those in arrears settle their bills,” he said.
Online Reporter