BULAWAYO City Council (BCC) has announced that water supply will be interrupted in all residential areas due to power outages caused by heavy rains in the Mzingwane and Inyakuni areas.
Bulawayo’s water is drawn from five surface water sources from the Mzingwane catchment and a groundwater source in the Gwayi catchment area.
BCC introduced a 130-hour water-shedding regime in October, with high-density areas limited to 350 litres per day and low-density suburbs to 550 litres per day.
The government has allocated US$15 million to help with the water crisis, including duplicating pipelines to draw water from substitute dams.
Works have stalled at the Gwayi-Shangani project, which government expects to be the long-term solution to the city’s water challenges.
However, in a notice to residents this week, town clerk Christopher Dube said the city was experiencing water supply delivery disruptions.
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Dube said the disruptions had resulted in reduced raw water delivery to Ncema and Fernhill and resultantly, decreased treatment capacity at the treatment works.
“To prevent reservoir collapse and protect water supply and distribution infrastructure, there will be disruptions to the 130-hour shedding schedule.
“Water supply will be cut off to all residential areas, except the industrial and central business district areas,” he said.
Dube said normal water supply would resume once repair work was completed and the city's water reservoirs were stabilised and balanced.
“The Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company teams are working on the lines.
“The City of Bulawayo apologises for the inconvenience caused by erratic water supplies and appreciates your understanding during this time,” he said.
Bulawayo has had water challenges for years as a result of a combination of factors, among them inadequate rains leading to low water levels at supply dams, increase in population in the city and failure by the local authority and central government to build water sources for the city.
In the interim, council has called on residents to use water sparingly, fix leaks and reuse water.
Meanwhile residents have turned to boreholes and nearby rivers for water, which can lead to water-borne diseases.