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Midlands Reporter
Persistent water woes are forcing Redcliff residents to resort to unsafe water sources such as unprotected wells.
Redcliff, which relies on Kwekwe Town Council for its water supply, has been receiving erratic supplies of the precious resource.
The satellite town reportedly owes $2 million to Kwekwe.
Residents from Rutendo and Torwood suburbs, who claim that they only receive tap water once a week, say they are sitting on a health time bomb, as it seems unlikely that the water crisis will be solved any time soon.
“The situation here is bad and it’s a matter of time before we have a disease outbreak here in Redcliff. We thought the city fathers would address this problem, but it seems it’s a perennial problem in Redcliff.
“It’s becoming normal to live without water,” said Mrs Runako Mafu from Rutendo suburb.
“At times we spend a week with no water and on a day when there is water, we have to fill our buckets during the night because we are on high ground, and we only get water when fewer people are using their taps,” she said.
Another resident, Mr Conrad Gwata, said the wells that residents were using as alternative sources of water could, in the long run, become hazardous.
“We have small children and these wells and some of them are not fenced and it poses a serious danger, especially to children.
“We, however, do not have a choice because we have no water in Redcliff,” he said.
Redcliff Mayor Councillor Fred Kapuya said council was making frantic efforts to address water woes in the town.
Currently, the local authority is servicing its debt with Kwekwe.
“It’s not a secret that as a municipality we are struggling in terms of revenue collection, but we have been trying our best to service our bill with Kwekwe so as to improve water supplies,” he said.
Clr Kapuya said the local authority was also working on addressing water leaks from the town’s ageing water pipeline.
It is believed that Redcliff is losing at least 60 percent of treated water from Kwekwe to leakages.
Online Reporter