Obsolete machinery behind Byo's water woes

Comment & Analysis
By NQOBANI NDLOVUBULAWAYO – Water shortages in the country’s second city have been blamed on collapsing infrastructure at the city’s water treatment plants despite the recent decommissioning of two major supply dams.

The city water woes have been blamed on dwindling water levels at the city’s five supply dams that resulted in the local authority decommissioning Inyankuni and Umzingwane dams late last year.

According to the latest council report on the water situation, the dilapidated infrastructure at the water treatment plants is causing constant machinery failure, forcing the authorities to pump inadequate water to residents.

“The treatment works continued to struggle to produce enough water to meet the city’s demands,” reads the report in part.

“Ncema Waterworks can only produce 39 000 cubic metres per day against a design capacity of 81 000 cubic metres per day whilst Criterion Waterworks could only produce 95 000 cubic metres against 180 000cubic metres per day.

“This is attributed to dilapidated filter beds and clarifiers.

“A few will be rehabilitated under the Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe loan facility,” the report added.

Council says the rehabilitation of the collapsing infrastructure at the water treatment plants is going to cost over a US$1million, a figure that is going to eat into coffers of the struggling local authority.

The local authority has introduced a water shedding schedule to conserve the little water remaining at Insiza, Upper Ncema and Lower Ncema dams.

Under normal circumstances, the city consumes 150,000 cubic metres of water daily, but has been receiving just under 70,000 cubic metres since controlled water cuts were introduced last year.

The region’s consistently low rainfall in the last few years has led to dwindling water levels in the city’s dams.