Water crisis deepens

Municipal Reporter
A CRITICAL water shortage is looming in Harare as the peak for water demand approaches, coupled with the city’s decommissioning of small and medium pumps which are being replaced at Morton Jaffray Water Works.Harare’s water department produces 450 megalitres a day from Prince Edward and Morton Jaffray water works, 100 megalitres of which are lost through leaks and dilapidated infrastructure against a normal requirement of 900 megalitres a day.

With the daily requirement expected to rise to between 1 200 to 1 500 megalitres, more households are expected to go without water for long periods, especially in areas in the periphery of the city.

Harare City director for water Engineer Christopher Zvobgo said in an interview yesterday that consumption was expected to rise by more than one and half times between September and November.

“We encourage residents to conserve water,” he said. “In normal circumstances, we used to have horse pipe bans as the requirement for water is usually high during this time . . . Our normal demand is 900 megalitres a day, but the water getting to people due to losses is only 350 megalitres.”