Ward 17 residents in Bulawayo’s Pumula suburb were recently hit by a severe diarrhoea outbreak, which they say was caused by contaminated tap water.
According to residents, council engineers who attended to the crisis revealed that dilapidated water pipes were to blame, as sewer water was mixing with clean water, resulting in tap water with a foul sewer smell.
Residents told CITE that while the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) swiftly intervened by providing free medical treatment at the local clinic, they fear the crisis may recur unless the old water infrastructure is replaced.
Resident secretary for the ward, Edith Phiri said many households were affected, although some received quick medical help.
“We were in a very difficult situation. So many households were affected. What happened is when there was water reconnection after the water shedding period, the water we received had a strong sewer stench,” Phiri said.
“When we collected the water in buckets for storage, dirt particles would gather at the bottom. People soon started falling ill with severe diarrhoea. We informed the issue to the councillor, who then arranged for affected residents to receive free treatment at the local clinic.”
An elderly resident, Melita Moyo, said the water was unusable, even for household chores.
“We really hope this situation will be rectified soon. We do not even have alternative water sources. When there is water shedding, we fetch water from unprotected streams and of late, the water that comes out of our taps has a foul smell. You can’t even use it to do laundry,” she said.
“Those with Jojo tanks are in even worse situations because that dirt would have collected at the bottom of the tank. So you find that in most cases we have to let the water flow for a while before we start filling it in our buckets. But this has a bearing on the water bill at the end of the month.”
Another community leader, Otilia Moyo, urged the city council to urgently address sewage leaks, which she said were the main cause of contamination.
“We really hope that the city council could help us here with the issue of sewer water. The sewer is the one that has affected our water. I had to go to the clinic and so did my neighbours,” Moyo said.
“But we need a permanent solution to this. What if at some point we do not get this swift assistance, or what if more people get sick and they can’t contain the situation?”
Another resident, who identified herself as MaMhlanga, described how the outbreak affected entire families.
“We realised that the main problem was with our water. The whole line here was affected. Some were vomiting and others developed running stomachs. I suffered from bad diarrhoea. I could hardly get out of bed and make it to the toilet in time. I was passing bloody stools. Some whole families were affected,” she said.
“After we made several reports, the health department came and they gave us water guard supplies. We implore the city council to come up with ways to give us clean water because contaminated water is the main cause of this problem.”
Contaced for comment, Ward 17 Councillor Sikhululekile Moyo, applauded the council’s rapid response but called for urgent replacement of aging water pipes.
“I am very grateful that the council was quick to respond to the crisis in my ward. The rapid response team was swift and people managed to get medical assistance. However I would like to encourage the city council to attend to the technical aspect of the problem. They need to replace the dilapidated infrastructure because this will mean such similar problems will always recur,” Cllr Moyo said.
“If the problem becomes worse, more people will be affected. What will happen if the rapid response team fails to contain it next time? We really hope the council fixes the pipes so that residents can have clean and safe water.”