ZIMBABWE’s second largest city of Bulawayo will begin to implement water cuts as part of efforts to preserve the little it has in its sources, Acting Town Clerk, Sikhangele Zhou said at the weekend.
Zhou said the drastic action has also been necessitated by the recent burst of a major supply pipe.
“Residents are advised that water supply will be cut off on Friday, the 20th of September 2019 and Saturday the 21st of September 2019 citywide and reopened on Sunday 22nd of September 2019.
“Thereafter, we would like to advise residents that the 48-hour water shedding will then resume,” said Zhou in a notice to stakeholders.
However, Zhou said the water shedding programme is subject to change if the raw water reservoir level improves or deteriorates beyond the critical level.
“The public is being advised that the City of Bulawayo is currently experiencing challenges with both raw and clear water pumping to the Criterion Raw Water, Tuli Clear Water and Magwegwe Reservoirs. Tuli and Criterion Reservoirs have been affected by reduced power load by Zesa which affected pumping for the past two weeks at Ncema Water Treatment works, Ncema Pump stations and Fernhill Booster Station,” she said.
Zhou added the city’s water situation has also been affected by a major leak on the Nyamandlovu pipeline which also feeds into Magwegwe Reservoir.
The Acting Town Clerk said areas on high ground are likely to be affected for more than 48 hours.
“Residents are urged to conserve water until further notice,” she said.
According to Zhou, the city’s daily consumption has risen to 150 mega litres to 154 mega litres versus daily production of 140 mega litres/ to 145 mega litres.
In July this year, some suburbs went for almost two weeks without water after the city embarked on a major rehabilitation of its water infrastructure under the Bulawayo Water and Sewerage Services Improvement Project (BWSSIP).
