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NewsDay

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Harare grapples with summer water woes

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HARARE City Council is under pressure to deliver potable water to millions of residents within Greater Harare this summer.

HARARE City Council is under pressure to deliver potable water to millions of residents within Greater Harare this summer.

Report by Moses Matenga

The city needs at least 1 400 megalitres of drinkable water per day to supply more than 4 million residents in Harare, Ruwa, Epworth, Norton and Chitungwiza, which is 200 megalitres more than is normally required in other seasons.

However, Harare has the capacity to provide only 620 megalitres a day.

As a result, according to council’s latest minutes, the local authority had embarked on an ambitious project to rehabilitate pumps in major areas.

“The director of Harare Water reported that there had been an apparent deterioration in water supplies in most parts of Harare due to increased demand resulting from increasing temperatures and frequent infrastructure breakdowns,” the minutes read.

“The continued deterioration of the raw water quality in the lakes has also contributed to water shortages as this affects the actual throughput of potable water from treatment plants.”