BY SILAS NKALA
THE dwindling water levels at the Bulawayo city’s supply dams has crippled the pumping of both raw and clean water to the Criterion Raw Water and Tuli Clear Water reservoirs.
This was said by the Bulawayo City Council’s town clerk Christopher Dube in a notice to residents yesterday.
“These challenges are mainly due to non-availability of water at the city’s water supply dams, currently at 25,70%. The low water levels have resulted in reduced pumping to Tuli Reservoir as well as Criterion Works,” he said.
“On Monday at 5am, the Fernhill booster station experienced an electrical fault and power was only restored midday around 12:15pm. This also affected raw water pumping to Tuli and Criterion, hence the low water level in the Clear Water reservoir.”
Dube said the City of Bulawayo was trying to increase pumping to raise reservoir levels to acceptable standards (two metres) to try and restore supplies.
“However, if the Criterion Clear Water reservoir does not reach two-metre level by Tuesday (yesterday) 5pm, Emganwini, Pumula and Nketa 9 will then be opened the following day, that is Wednesday (today) at 5pm for the same hours as per shedding programme,” he said, adding that areas supplied by the Tuli Reservoir were restored yesterday.
Dube said several suburbs such as Tshabalala, parts of Famona and Nkulumane 12 had been affected by pipe bursts, leading to interruption of water supplies outside the normal water-shedding programme.
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He said the council was currently mobilising equipment and materials to repair the pipes.
The City of Bulawayo is currently under 144 hours of water-shedding per week after it decommissioned three of its six supply dams which are located in Matabeleland South province.
The city has experienced outbreaks of diseases such as typhoid and diarrhoea, which have been blamed on contaminated water.
