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Blessings Chidakwa Municipal Correspondent
The proposed use of the 15-kilometre tunnel drilled from Lake Manyame to Morton Jaffray Waterworks four decades ago will save Harare City Council US$1 million monthly in water treatment chemicals. The city needs eight chemicals at a cost of US$2,5 million a month for the treatment of water from Lake Chivero because it is heavily polluted, but harnessing Lake Manyame whose water is cleaner, the chemicals will be cut to only two.
The tunnel will allow Harare to access water from Lake Manyame, increasing water output by about 140 megalitres.
It was constructed in the late 1980s following the double expansion of Morton Jaffray, prompting need to have another water source to complement Lake Chivero.
Along the way, the city council abandoned the tunnel citing high electricity costs, preferring to rely only on Lake Chivero.
At the moment, less than half the capacity of Morton Jaffray is being used due to problems of cost and chemicals required to treat the water, despite Harare’s growing population density since the last extension to Morton Jaffray almost two decades ago.
Harare City Council will now be drawing more raw water from Lake Manyame since it is at present cleaner than Lake Chivero’s and this will cost less to treat, while Government will continue helping the city fund the treatment.
Harare Town Clerk Engineer Hosiah Chisango said yesterday that council had been using the tunnel way below its average capacity.
“At the moment we are drawing 66,6 percent from Lake Chivero and 33,3 percent from Lake Manyame, but we intend to do vice versa, with Manyame supplying 60 percent against 40 percent from Chivero which is now heavily polluted, compromising the water quality,” he said.
“We have a target to draw almost 100 percent water from Lake Manyame. This will increase the amount of water being pumped out of Morton Jaffray to 400 megalitres from 260 megalitres and reduce costs since currently eight chemicals are being used to treat water in Lake Chivero because of the high concentration of algae, while now fewer chemicals, about two, will be required for treating water from Manyame Dam.”
Harare-based urban planner Mr Shingai Kawadza said the water crisis was due to lack of planning as the current situation was predicted way back in 1960.
He said switching from Lake Chivero to Lake Manyame was a noble idea, considering that water from Manyame was less polluted than Chivero and will need two chemicals instead of about eight that are being used by Harare.
“As a short-term measure, we need to fully utilise the little that we have and put it to good use, optimise and in the medium to long term we find ways of how best we can supplement the current water sources,” said Mr Kawadza.
“We have to deal with other alternative sources like Kunzvi Dam which has been talked about for the past three to four decades. If it was constructed, we would be talking about something else now. It’s a good stop-gap measure, but in the future we need to have reliable water sources in terms of dams and boreholes, to some extent.
“Wetlands and all water bodies will soon dry up, including Manyame and Lake Chivero.”
Online Reporter