Bulawayo water woes ease

Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Reporter

THE additional 300 megawatts which were added to the national power supply grip following the 100 percent synchronisation of the Hwange Unit 7, has resulted in improved water supplies in Bulawayo residential with some suburbs now having water for more than 72 hours.

Prior to the latest development, residents in most suburbs went for weeks without running water as the city endured a prolonged water-shedding exercise due to Bulawayo City Council (BCC)’s failure to pump water due to power outages.

Last month, Hwange Power Station’s Unit 7 was successfully synchronised to the national grid with officials reporting an all-clear process. On Monday, the station pumped 708 megawatts to the national grid, a huge leap from the 74 megawatts the station produced in late February.

With the milestone Unit 7 synchronisation, the country’s national power generation now stands at 1 071 megawatts. The upgrade is a component of the US$1,4 billion Hwange Unit 7 and 8 expansion project whose construction started in August 2018 following a ground-breaking ceremony by President Mnangagwa.

The two units are set to have a combined capacity of 600 megawatts, which will go a long way in easing power cuts and reducing the nation’s electricity import bill as there will be guaranteed power supply, a key driver towards achieving major national goals in line with Vision 2030.

Hwange Power Station, which generated 920MW, is expected to increase power generation to 1 520MW once the two units are complete.

The 650 million cubic metre Lake Gwayi-Shangani Project will enable Bulawayo to receive 220 megalitres a day against its requirement of 165ml/day.

The water will be enough to supply Bulawayo for the next 80 years. The massive project was mooted in 1912 but only implemented under the Second Republic.

Already the Government is in the process of allocating tenders to construct a water treatment plant in Bulawayo’s Cowdray Park suburb as part of the National Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project.

Once completed, Bulawayo’s supply dams situated with Matabeleland South will be weaned off from the city.

In an interview yesterday, BCC’s acting director of engineering services, Engineer Sikhumbuzo Ncube said there has been an improvement in electricity supplies to the city’s six reservoirs following an engagement meeting between council, Government, and Zesa official last month.

“In that meeting, our Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Judith Ncube, reached out to Zesa officials to consider reducing power cuts to the city’s water pump stations. We are excited that the power utility heeded the minister’s plea,” he said.

“While we may have a few glitches here and there, the situation has generally resulted in improved pumping hours and boosted our water supplies.”

According to the city’s provisional water restoration strategy for Tuesday, suburbs that were being fed from Tuli and 6J reservoirs had no water supplies while some suburbs from the rest of the six pump sites had water.

Unlike in the past months, areas like Njube and Entumbane enjoyed unprecedented water supplies, much to the relief of residents.

Bulawayo United Residents Association (Bura) chairperson, Mr Winos Dube said lately there has been improvement in the water situation.

“The unexpected continuous supply of water brings with it a feeling of relief and we pray that it could be maintained especially looking at where people are coming from. We would go for two weeks or even more without water,” he said.

“We need water on a daily basis, but this is still an improvement perhaps an indication that we are heading towards the right direction in terms of the water situation in the city.”

Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) co-ordinator, Mr Thembelani Dube said a visit to some of the usual waterholes within the suburbs showed a significantly low number of people fetching water.

“If you compare the past situation with what is happening now, we can safely say and conclude that the water situation has improved. We hope that the situation continues in that trajectory,” he said.

The city has been going through one of its worst water crises in recent years, both as a result of obsolete equipment, low water levels in the city’s supply dams as well as constant electricity power cuts.

At the height of the power crisis, BCC claimed it was only receiving between 8-10 hours of power supplies at its pump stations, resulting in a drop in water volumes.

On Saturday, council, Ministry of Local Government and Public Works officials and ZETDC officials held a closed-door meeting during which the power utility reaffirmed its commitment to exempt the city’s pump stations and treatment works from load-shedding.

ZETDC also gave assurance that the city will not experience load shedding during the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) which runs from April 25 to 29.