New transformer for Gwenhoro water treatment plant

GWERU City Council has successfully installed the US$74 000 transformer at the Gwenhoro water treatment plant, a development that is expected to increase the city’s water pumping capacity to around 62 mega litres from the current 38 mega litres.

In an interview yesterday, Gweru Mayor, Councillor Martin Chivhoko, said the increase in water pumping capacity is expected to result in the reduction of water-shedding hours as residents are expected to receive more water.“We have successfully installed the US$74 000 transformer at Gwenhoro. This will increase the pumping capacity to around 62 mega litres from the current 38 mega litres,” he said.Clr Chivhoko said three high lift pumps were procured some time back using devolution funds.

“These required a new transformer that has been successfully installed and commissioned at the Gwenhoro water treatment plant. The supplier of the high-lift pumps is on the ground testing the pumps for commissioning.”We are also waiting for some low lift pumps that we procured for Amapongokwe for the abstraction of water from the dam,” he said.Clr Chivhoko said while the installed capacity of the Gwenhoro water treatment plant is 67 mega litres, the city requires 125 mega litres of water per day.

“So there is a need to upgrade the treatment plant and also increase the low lift and high lift pumps,” he said.Of late, Gweru residents have been experiencing water challenges, forcing residents to resort to unsafe water sources.In 2018, the city experienced a cholera outbreak that saw about 11 residents succumbing to the disease.Residents in low-lying suburbs such as Mkoba 4 and 6 are the worst affected as they go for weeks without water resulting in some resorting to unhygienic water sources.

It is now a common sight to see residents as late as midnight fetching water from boreholes risking being attacked by criminals.
The city council has attributed the water challenges to a decline in water levels at its Gwenhoro and Whitewaters supply dams as well as low pumping capacity.

In March last year, President Mnangagwa urged local authorities to plan ahead of population growth by coming up with proper service delivery projections that will ensure that service delivery is not affected as is now the common sorry state of affairs in councils across the country.

Giving an example of the City of Gweru which is using infrastructure that was put in place around the 1950s with a population of fewer than 300 000 people, a figure that has ballooned to about 1,2 million people, President Mnangagwa said if there was proper development planning, the council would not be failing to provide basic social amenities such as water.He was addressing residents after he was conferred with the Freedom of the City.