Night water supply for Vic Falls

Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
VICTORIA Falls residents who use bulk water tanks to store tap water at their households and hose pipes to water gardens will soon be penalised as the municipality is working on water management by-laws to regulate water use.

This comes as the municipality has started rationing water due to falling levels at the pump station on the Zambezi River.

To manage supply, the local authority has resorted to cutting off residents during the day and restoring supplies at night.

Some parts of Chinotimba and Mkhosana high density suburbs only get water for a few hours at night.

Low density suburbs and the central business district are not affected.

While residents are encouraged to store water, there are concerns as some use jojo tanks which results in uneven distribution when water is restored.

The water challenge is a perennial problem in Victoria Falls especially between October and December when water levels of the Zambezi River are low.

Residents have implored council to find a lasting solution to the perennial problem.

“In BD46 we only get water for an hour at around 4am.This means that people have to wake up every day around that time to fetch water which is risky. Our vegetables are wilting because we can’t water within one hour,” said Ms Mlotshwa of Mkhosana.

Combined Victoria Falls Residents Association chairman Mr Kelvin Moyo said council should speed up implementation of the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (Wash) project to address the situation.

“The only solution will be making sure there are reservoirs to improve water distribution. At the moment once electricity is cut off water stops coming out as well. Council should therefore invest in construction of reservoirs so that we don’t face these challenges,” he said.

During a recent budget consultation meetings, residents also implored council to invest in water projects.

In an interview the Town Clerk Mr Ronnie Dube said water rationing was introduced to manage limited supplies and ensure that all residents get the precious liquid.

“Rationing is being done during the day because of low levels of water at the river where we are now processing less water because uptake is low. To manage the situation, we close supplies in some parts of the town.

“We therefore advise residents to use water sparingly. We are working on water management by-laws which will address the issue of jojo tanks and hosepipes. Usually we end up having unfair distribution when we restore water because some would fill big containers while others have nothing. We therefore need to regulate this,” said Mr Dube.

He did not give timelines of when the by-laws will be in place. During winter, Zinwa was pumping between 740 cubic metres and 750 cubic metres against a demand of between 800 cubic metres and 850 cubic metres per day.

Demand has increased lately because of high temperatures although authorities could not give the latest statistics. Over the years, Victoria Falls residents have freely used hosepipes to water gardens using treated water despite water challenges in the resort town.

Generally, people water gardens on a daily basis because of the high temperatures.

Most residents who were confined at home because of Covid-19 travel restrictions, have established gardens in their yards or open spaces in front of their houses.

Mr Dube said a permanent solution to the town’s water problem is the implementation of the US$12 million Water Sanitation and Hygiene (Wash) project which will be rolled out in two phases.

The project has however been failing to take off because of lack of funding since its inception in 2014.

“The problem will be addressed by Wash project but the stumbling block is lack of funding,” said Mr Dube.

He said council intended to implement the project in two phases.

The first phase which will cost US$8 million involves upgrading of water system and duplication of existing piping while the second phase involves construction of water reservoirs in Mkhosana suburb to enhance distribution. Council is working in partnership with the Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe (IDBZ). — @ncubeleon.