The Bulawayo City Council (BCC) is likely to lift the water-shedding programme earlier than scheduled owing to improved water supplies to the city.
The city’s supply dams have received significant inflows and are currently 64 percent full.
In a statement, Tuesday, the Mayor Councillor Solomon Mguni noted that the local authority is now pumping enough water to supply the city.
“Raw water pumping from the first set of Flow-serve and the Sulzer pumps has remained stable delivering an average of 85ML/day. In addition, the clear water to Tuli Reservior from Ncema Water treatment plant is averaging 35ML/day,” the mayor said.
“”We are also glad to announce that the coming on-line of the Epping Forest, combined with output from the Rochester scheme in Nyamandlovu is expected to supply an additional ground water of about 15 millilitres per day going forward.
“From the above sources, the aggregated water supply into the city is now averaging 135 millilitres per day against the average consumption of 120 millilitres per day which is adequate to start refilling the city’s distribution reservoirs and be able to fully charge the water recirculation system.”
The mayor said their intention to suspend the water shedding programme could be hampered by “the current and regular power outages continue to disrupt continuous pumping.”
“On February 21, the city experienced the highest water consumption of 167 millilitres per day, a spike that coupled with power outages at both Fernhill and Cowdray Park resulting in the Tuli and Magwegwe reservoirs collapsing.”
Cllr Mguni said as the water reticulation system adjusts to a 24/7 fully adjusted state, some areas might experience water cuts due to pipe bursts.
“Residents are being urged to continue to conserve water, sticking to the daily allocations so as to enable the system to remain stable and supply everyone with water,” the mayor appealed.
