…otherwise would be forced to decomission Umzingwane
Bulawayo City Council (BCC) has urged residents to conserve water as supplies in the dams continue to deteriorate, worsened by the fast approaching dry season.
According to statistics from BCC, as of September 3, 2019, the city’s water supply dams are at 42 percent.
In an interview with CITE, Director of Engineering Services, Simela Dube, warned that if consumers continued consuming high levels of water, the council would soon be forced to decommission Umzingwane Dam.
“Our water supply situation continues to deteriorate, as our dams are carrying almost 42 percent as at today,”said Dube.
“We have already indicated that we decommissioned Upper Ncema with projection to decommission Umzingwane by the end of November if the consumption remains this high.”
The city’s engineer urged residents to conserve water with the hot season fast approaching.
“We are going to the dry season; we obviously expect consumption to go up because of the hot season but we still urge consumers to reduce consumption as much as they can and re-use their water as much as they can,” he said.
Engineer Dube revealed that since the suspension of water shedding consumers had failed to stick to their daily consumption limit of about 132 mega litres a day.
“Over the period since we lifted water shedding, our average consumption has been 150 mega litres per day out our target of around 130 to 132 mega litres per day,” he said.
“When we decommission Umzingwane, we will only be able to supply 115 mega litres per day, so meaning if consumption remains at 150 mega litres, it will start depleting our reservoirs then we will have to bring back what you don’t like most, water shedding.”
He added: “For us to avoid water shedding, we are asking consumers to reduce their consumption. Council has publicised the new schedules for allocations which we are asking people to adhere to”.
Engineer Dube said consumers should support small water conservation initiatives that the local authority has since introduced.
“We have also shared various water conservation initiatives, which we are asking people to share as much as possible and also practice. Do not brush your teeth using running water as you actually consume three times as much.
“Use a bucket while bathing and a 5litre bucket is sufficient for one to bath with while bathing in a tub uses a minimum of actual 30 litres of water per person, which is a lot.
“So, it’s some of these small initiatives that we are ask people to start practising so that we are able to supply water continuously even if it’s in short supply,” Eng. Dube said.
