Residents urged to boil borehole water

BULAWAYO mayor Solomon Mguni has urged residents to boil borehole water before consumption to reduce incidences of waterborne ailments following the death of three children from diarrhoea complications on Thursday last week.

Three children in Bulawayo's Luveve suburb succumbed to diarrhoea complications with families linking the deaths to dirty and unsafe water residents were receiving in bowsers from council.

Bulawayo has a 144-hour waterrationing schedule owing to low supplies at its reservoirs. Residents are also fetching water from unsafe sources to augment bowser deliveries.

Diarrhoeal diseases are increasing in the city with council’s health, housing and education committee in January recording 359 cases up from 473 cases recorded between July and September 2019.

Mguni told Southern Eye on Thursday that borehole water was raw, therefore, there were risks associated with it especially when consumed without boiling.

"I urge residents to boil borehole water before drinking it because it is hard water, it can cause health problems if consumed before boiling,” Mguni said, and also urged residents to clean their water storage containers.

The mayor said residents should give an allowance of about five to10 minutes before refilling their containers when supplies are restored to clear the rust in the water pipes.

Residents have been complaining that council was pumping dirty water to their homes.

Mguni said council had approved plans to use Khami water to argument water supplies in the city, but indicated that they were yet to consult residents about the issue.

He also said they were waiting for reports from the health services and engineering department about the quality of water in Luveve suburb.

On the dirty water which is suspected to have caused the deaths, council health services director Edwin Sibanda told the media that they had collected water samples from the area and swabs from residents that had diarrhoea and sent them to the laboratory for testing.

"We also collected swabs from those who were admitted to Mpilo Central Hospital and the results are yet to come. Once the results are out we will make an announcement. We cannot exactly state what the problem is, but we urge the residents to boil water before use," Sibanda said.