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treated potable water to industrial areas, Budiriro and the southern incorporated areas of Southlea Park and Hopley.
The plant – with intended capacity to treat 80 mega litres of potable water a day – will be commissioned in the next two years.
This development will wean off Budiriro and the industrial areas from the traditional supply lines while adding another 60 000 households in the southern incorporated areas.
The city has been flighting adverts seeking partners to assist in the project, which among other things intends to increase the capacity of the Crowborough Sewage Plant.
Harare would become the second city in Africa after Windhoek, Namibia, to directly treat water at the sewer ponds and feed it back into the main pipes for drinking.
Singapore uses the same method to treat water after it became increasingly expensive to import water for dome-stic use from Malaysia.
Harare Water director Engineer Christopher Zvobgo confirmed the development last week.
CITY OF HARARE
“Water produced from this concept is of a higher quality as compared to other conventional systems.
“This method reduces the use of chemicals because of the membrane system,” he said.
Harare uses eight water treatment chemicals at Morton Jaffray Water Treatment Plant because of heavy pollution that combines the dislodging of untreated sewer into river systems.
Eng Zvobgo said an additional 20 mega litres would be abstracted from Lake Chivero to mix with the waste water at Crowborough before treating.
According to the advert currently running in the Press, “the City of Harare intends to extend the Crowborough Sewage Treatment Works to treat sewage inflows and future projection for a 20-year-design through the private sector on a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) or other similar inve-stor financed basis.”
“The immediate extensions will have a dry weather flow (DWF) of 80ml/day and shall incorporate a nutrient removal process and ancillary works since the city recycles its water and sludge treatment and disposal facilities.”
The expansion of Crowborough Sewage Treatment Works will see the plant treat an additional 60 mega litres of sewer daily.
The plant has a design capacity of 54 mega litres but receives in excess of 110 megalitres of sewer daily, resulting in the release of raw sewer into Marimba River.
Eng Zvobgo said the tender for the job would be awarded in September this year with work expected to begin thereafter.
“We expect the water to reach the people between 2013 and 2014,” he said.
The three units at Crowborough were commissioned in 1957, 1973 and 1984 and have not been refurbished to cope with increasing demand.
The Singapore project was done by a company called NE Water while Veolia did that for Windhoek.
City spokesman, Mr Lesley Gwindi, said the drive to recycle wastewater was a positive move that should be seen in the light of the attendant advantages.
“The management and harvesting of wastewater is as good as managing fresh water. We want to increase the city’s water supply by processing the wastewater at source,” he said.
Water demand has increased to 1 200 mega litres per day against a daily supply hovering around 600 mega litres.
Online Reporter