Bulawayo’s water woes are likely to continue as the local authority is struggling to supply treated water due to power cuts at its pumping stations.
Most suburbs in the city experienced water shortages last week and the situation is likely to continue this week, according to Bulawayo Town Clerk Christopher Dube.
“The City of Bulawayo would like to advise members of the public that the City’s water facilities are currently experiencing power outages that are affecting water abstraction, pumping, treatment, and storage of both treated and raw water over the past six days,” said Dube, in a statement, Wednesday.
“This has had a negative overall effect on the City’s capacity to ensure continuous and in some instances scheduled water supply to all areas.”
Dube said in Umzingwane Dam and Inyankuni dam the abstraction pump stations haave been affected for 33 hours, Ncema waterworks and Fernhill Booster Station, treatment and major pump station 33 hours, Nyamandlovu Rochester pump station, Cowdray Park booster station, and Nyamandlovu Aquifer (264 hours).
He added that in case the city reservoirs deplete to critical levels, supply to affected suburbs will be turned off.
“By way of this notice, residents are being appraised of the situation as this is leading to erratic water supplies. In case when the City reservoirs deplete to critical levels, supply to affected suburbs will be turned off till such a time where power supply to the mentioned plants has been restored to levels that will enable constant and consistent abstraction, treatment, and pumping plus the raising of supply reservoirs to stable and satisfactory levels,” said Dube.
