Another dam to be decommissioned

THE Bulawayo water situation continues to deteriorate with another major supply dam set to be decommissioned next month as water levels are dwindling with no significant inflows recorded in recent days.

According to the latest council report, Lower Ncema Dam is set to be the third dam to be decommissioned as water in the remaining four supply dams continues to dwindle.

The city is operating with four out of six supply dams after it was forced to decommission Upper Ncema and Umzingwane Dam as their levels were below drawable levels. This saw the local authority introducing a 96-hour water shedding schedule to conserve the available water.

The developments could

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residents enduring more than the current four days without water supplies as the city fathers will be forced to tighten the water shedding regime.

The projected dam depletion statistics further state that in the event that the dams get no significant inflows during the 20192020 rainfall season the dams will run dry by September next year, assuming that the city population and the city development remains as it is.

According to the latest dam statistics as provided by the Bulawayo City Council, the city’s supply dams currently stand at 36,76 percent full with Mtshabezi, which has a carrying capacity of 51 996 000 cubic metres, pegged at 61,5 percent of its capacity.

Inyankuni, which has a carrying capacity of 80 781 000 cubic metres is 53,6 percent full and Insiza Mayfair, with a carrying capacity of 173 491 000 cubic metres is 40 percent full.

Lower Ncema which has a carrying capacity of 18 237 700 cubic metres is 18,75 percent full, Umzingwane with a carrying capacity of 44 663 500 cubic metres is 3,95 percent full while Upper Ncema which has a carrying capacity of 45 458 500 cubic metres is 5,68 percent full.

In terms of the status of the city’s boreholes — which is the major alternative water source during the prolonged water shedding period — the council’s Director of Engineering Services, Engineer Simela Dube revealed that a majority of the boreholes were operational.

“A total of 324 boreholes were operational whereas 17 were not working and 28 needed to be equipped. The quality of the water at most of the boreholes was good. A few boreholes had a high degree of saltness.

“Borehole water was naturally salty because it was drawn from deep down the ground and the degree of saltiness would depend on the nature of rocks in the water table from which it was drawn from,” reads part of the council report.

The local authority however emphasized the need to boil borehole water as they could not guarantee its bacterial quality.

“Bacteriological quality of borehole water could not be guaranteed since the water was untreated and subject to contamination at any time from environmental factors like sewer overflows and bacteriological contaminated soil. Residents were therefore advised to boil borehole water before drinking.

“To further ease water demand water bowsers will be used in cases of funerals when shedding was in place for strategic points where water supply could not reach for any reason within the schedule, the spots for bowsers had been availed through the normal channels of communication in liaison with councillors,” reads the report.

Further, according to the report, council had already awarded a contract for the repair of non-functional boreholes across the city. The contractor started work on the 28 dysfunctional boreholes with Edgars funding the purchasing of borehole spares for wards five to 21.

The city faces perennial water shortages with city fathers identifying the Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project as the long-term solution to the city’s problems.

Other projects identified include the Epping Forest boreholes project that will increase the water being pumped from the Nyamandlovu Aquifer and the duplication of the Insiza pipeline to complement the current pipeline and increase water being pumped from Insiza Mayfair.

Bulawayo is also said to be operating with a deficit of four dams as an additional supply dam is supposed to be constructed after every 10 years.