Source: Mutare goes dry after major pipe burst – NewsDay Zimbabwe June 25, 2018
MOST Mutare residents experienced a dry weekend following a major pipe burst along Christmas Pass, with the local authority saying they were working round-the-clock to restore normal water supplies.
BY KENNETH NYANGANI/
STEPHEN CHADENGA
Council spokesperson Spren Mutiwi yesterday urged residents to use water sparingly, as the problem was being rectified.
“Residents of Mutare are being advised of a temporary 24-hour water disruption starting from June 23 to June 24, 2018. The disruption has been caused by a breakdown of a 700 millimetre diameter water pipe from Odzani to Christmas Pass,” he said.
“City of Mutare is working round-the-clock to replace the 12-meter 700-milimetre diameter main pipe. When normal supply is restored, it will take another six hours for Christmas Pass water reservoir to build to the levels of adequate supplies.”
United Mutare Residents and Ratepayers’ Trust programmes manager Edson Dube said he was happy that the municipality was communicating with the residents over the matter.
“We are on record that Mutare City Council should always communicate with residents whatever challenges they would be facing, but I am happy that they have clarified the issue of this weekend’s water woes,” he said.
In a related development, Gweru mayor Charles Chikozho has said the city requires alternative electricity supplies to Gwenoro Waterworks to curb incessant faults that have resulted in erratic water supplies over the past weeks.
“We have been experiencing interruptions in normal water supply to the residents as a result of faulty power lines,” Chikozho said.
“There is need to engage Zesa (Holdings) to make sure that we have alternative power supplies to Gwenoro to address this challenge.”
Although Zesa southern region general manager King Dube could not be reached for a comment yesterday, the power utility announced in January this year that it was working on an alternative feed from Shurugwi to avoid power faults at Gwenoro Dam Waterworks.
Two years ago, the city went for more than a week without water following an electrical fault, which saw the transformer going up in flames and affecting water supply pumps at Gwenoro Dam.
Over the years, Gweru’s water problems have been worsened by power outages, as well as the city’s obsolete water pumps and pipes.
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