Water woes to dog city for 3 years

Farai Kuvirimirwa Herald Reporter—–
HARARE residents will endure water shortages for the next three years as the city embarks on phased decommissioning of pumps at Morton Jaffray Water Treatment Plant to pave way for a protracted rehabilitation of the old machinery by Chinese engineers. The revamping of the treatment plant will boost water production at Morton Jaffray from 614 mega litres per day to 740 mega litres with attendant improvement in the quality of potable water due to a drastic reduction in chemical dosage from 70 to 35 milligrams per litre.

Sewage treatment will be boosted from 36 mega litres to 200 mega litres per day.
Town clerk Dr Tendai Mahachi yesterday said the water shortages would be experienced in different parts of the city as council decommissions the 14 pumps at Morton Jaffray at different intervals.

He was speaking during a tour of the water treatment plant by Chinese engineers, who immediately got to work by decommissioning three of the pumps yesterday.

The engineers could be seen removing some of the dilapidated pumps from the plant.
“After securing the US$144 million from China’s Import and Export Bank, part of that money will be channelled to the purchase of new pumps that will replace the old ones,” Dr Mahachi said.

“Harare provides water to 2,5 million residents and a further 1,5 million in satellite towns.
“Decommissioning of the 14 old pumps started in May, but we anticipate that in the next 10 months the new ones will start to be installed. During that time, the city will experience water shortages until the whole process is fully completed in the next three years.”

The Chinese Export Import Bank has since acquired material to be used for the refurbishment of the 60-year-old water treatment plant.
Dr Mahachi said residents would undergo three years of water rationing to enable the city to increase water output to 80 percent of the city’s requirements at the completion of the project.

“Water production volume at Morton Jaffray is currently pegged at 614 mega litres of water per day and after rehabilitation there will be 740 mega litres,” he said.

“There will be improvement of water quality and reduction on chemical dosing from 70 to 35 milligrams per litre after the rehabilitation is complete, while sewage treatment will increase from 36 mega litres to 200 mega litres per day.

“Revenue collection will also increase from US$6 million to US$10 million per month.
“The station (Morton Jaffray) has been working below the maximum capacity, but due to the increasing population, we will ensure all areas get water at the end of the project.”

Dr Mahachi said the ground breaking ceremony for the rehabilitation exercise would be held next month after the tools and the first batch of machinery arrive in the country.

He said city engineers and their Chinese counterparts would be meeting fortnightly to review progress.
Chinese engineers’ team leader Engineer Peter Song said the team’s total staff compliment would be 40

“Quite a lot of work needs to be done and that’s why we have mechanical engineers, designers, chief engineers and we will amalgamate workers from Harare city with the ones we have.

“With the kind of work that is needed to be done we expect to employ more than 1 000 people locally and we think we will be working 12 hours a day, including on Sundays.”

Eng Song said at least 25 Chinese engineers and experts were already in Harare, while more were expected once the tools and equipment arrive.

Director of Water, Engineer Christopher Zvobgo said safety would be prioritised on the project and recycled water would not be for human consumption.

“Recycled water will be for industrial use and no one will drink that water,” he said.
“The decommissioning and purchasing of new pumps will cost US$47, 3 million and some of that money is from the Zimfund provided by the African Development Bank.”

The city partnered with CMEC of China in the implementation of the project after sourcing funding from that country.
This followed complaints by residents that they were not getting enough water and also after realising that the water and sewer distribution network was old and needed replacement.

Occasional major pipe bursts were forcing residents to fetch water from unprotected sources risking their health.