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BCC decommissions Umzingwane dam

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THE Bulawayo City Council (BCC) has decommissioned Umzingwane Dam over low water levels, leaving it with four out of six major supply dams.

BY SHARON SIBINDI

THE Bulawayo City Council (BCC) has decommissioned Umzingwane Dam over low water levels, leaving it with four out of six major supply dams.

In June, BCC decommissioned the Upper Ncema Dam soon after city engineer Dumisani Gwethe warned that the local authority would experience more water cuts unless it secured US$4,6 million to refurbish its ageing water infrastructure.

In a statement yesterday, council spokesperson Nesisa Mpofu said the city continues to face challenges with pumping in both the delivery of raw water and clean water supplies due to power cuts being experienced.

“Bulawayo City Council further advises that the decommissioning of Umzingwane Dam reduces the input of raw water to 95 megalitres per day against a current daily average consumption of 131,6 megalitres per day (November 25 to Monday December 2) despite the 96-hour water-shedding programme,” she said.

Mpofu urged residents to use water sparingly in light of reduced supplies.

“Currently, there are ongoing efforts to increase the pumping from the Nyamandlovu boreholes to at least five megalitres a day and for Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission Distribution Company to speed up on the re-installation of the power supply lines that were blown away by storm winds two weeks ago,” she said.