Victoria Falls rations water

Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
VICTORIA Falls has started rationing water as the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) is struggling to provide enough supplies due to a broken-down pump.

Zinwa is responsible for pumping bulk raw water from the Zambezi River into a reservoir from which the Victoria Falls Municipality treats and distributes to residents.

For the past two weeks, residents in some parts of Victoria Falls have been accessing the precious liquid only at night, at a time when it is important to access water for hand-washing to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Victoria Falls Municipality public relations and economic development officer Mr Ngqabutho Moyo said less water was being purified which has led to rationing.

“We are having erratic water supplies because we are experiencing challenges of supplies of raw water from the river due to a Zinwa water pump breakdown. This has led to less water being purified and a failure to meet demand. As a result, water is being rationed to ensure that every part of the town gets water,” said Mr Moyo.

He said council is engaging Zinwa to rectify the challenge as a matter of urgency.

The municipality is also working on rolling out a $12 million Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (Wash) programme to improve water management.

Zinwa, which has over the years come under fire from Victoria Falls residents over recurrent erratic water supplies, has said it is attending to the breakdown.

The water authority’s corporate communications and marketing manager Mrs Marjorie Munyonga said repairs were under way to address the problem.

“Victoria Falls raw water pump house operates with two pumps. Only one pump operates at a time while the other will be on standby. Currently the duty pump is broken down and the standby pump is pumping between 740 cubic metres and 750 cubic metres against a demand of between 800 cubic metres and 850 cubic metres per day,” said Mrs Munyonga.

“Repairs to the duty pump are underway with installation of a new electric motor already completed. This will pave way for the reintroduction of the duty pump, which will help restore normal supplies to the town.”

She said the standby pump was installed to ensure constant supplies to Victoria Falls.

“The logic behind the two pumps is to ensure that pumping is maintained even in the event of the duty pump breaking down or being serviced.

“Zinwa has ably supplied sufficient quantities of raw water to Victoria Falls,” added Mrs Munyonga.-@ncubeleon

Source: Victoria Falls rations water (09/06/20)