BY PATRICIA SIBANDA
BULAWAYO City Council (BCC) has erected 47 water kiosks since last year in a bid to address water shortages in the city that have been caused by low water levels at its supply dams.
During the water crisis in the city last year, some suburbs went for over six months without tap water.
Ward 17 councillor Sikhululekile Moyo, who also chairs the BCC water management committee, said: “We have done the best that we can to make sure there are enough water kiosks in the city. We have managed to install a total of 47 kiosks to date. Water is supplied to the kiosks by bowsers.
“We note the 2019-2020 drought was one of the worst experienced in the City of Bulawayo. The water kiosks eased the challenges of waiting times which were initially being experienced by residents when waiting for water deliveries from bowsers.
“They have been placed in different parts of the city, in high lying areas that had gone for longer periods without water.”
Last year, some high-lying areas could not receive water even when supplies got restored due to low pressure at reservoirs.This saw some areas going for up to seven months without water.
The water crisis at the time was deemed to be the worst ever recorded and triggered a typhoid and dysentery outbreak that killed 13 and infected more than 1 800 residents in Luveve high-density suburb and surrounding areas.
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Council came up with several interventions to address the water situation including working with development partners and the private sector in installing the water kiosks which are basically 10 000 litre water tanks that have either one or three taps.
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