Repairs solve water crisis in Victoria Falls

VICTORIA Falls City residents are now enjoying uninterrupted water supplies following the completion of the maintenance work at the city’s pump station resulting in 900 cubic metres being pumped per hour.

Town Clerk Mr Ronnie Dube said water being pumped is enough to supply all residents. Residents in the resort city have in the past few weeks been going for days without water as Victoria Falls City Council struggled to repair a burst pipe at its main pump station where more than 60 percent of water was being lost before distribution.

The local authority had resorted to using bowsers to supply residents in the wake of the biting water crisis. The Government granted Victoria Falls City Council autonomy to manage its own water reticulation a few years ago.

In the past, the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) used to manage the city’s water reticulation. The council is pumping water from the Zambezi River using an ageing pumping system.

Mr Dube said the situation had improved significantly following the completion of repair work.

“The problem was at the source where we get water from the river and piping from the abstraction point to the waterworks. Our old infrastructure was giving us problems and we had to change now we are pumping using two pumps with a combined capacity of 900 cubic metres per hour,” he said.

“We are now supplying at a maximum and it is enough to cover consumption even the areas where we have not had water for a long time are now covered.”

The city council is making efforts to upgrade the water system through the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (Wash) programme that also involves upgrading sewer services.

A few months ago council launched a US$4 million wash programme where two mega reservoirs are being constructed in Mkhosana to improve storage and distribution.

The city had also budgeted more than US$1 million for the upgrade of the water abstraction plant where a new plant is supposed to be put to permanently address the water crisis.

The project was mooted several years ago and the local authority rehabilitated most of its infrastructure in 2012 in preparation for the United Nations World Tourism Organisation when it was realised that Wash infrastructure needed upgrading.

The rapid growth of the city in terms of the number of properties and hotels put pressure on water supply, sewerage services, solid waste, roads and drainage.

It caused limited pumping of water, underperformance of water treatment plant due to ageing, water leakage, and low pumping capacity, which resulted in erratic pumping and distribution.

The city pumps adequate water from the abstraction point at the Zambezi River, but the biggest challenge is the distribution of water due to the lack of reservoirs, especially in high-lying areas like Mkhosana.

Mr Dube urged residents to use water sparingly, saying it is expensive to pump and purify water on a daily basis.

Source: Repairs solve water crisis in Victoria FallsRepairs solve water crisis in Victoria Falls (08/10/23)