Bulawayo’s dirty water safe to drink: BCC engineer

Bulawayo municipality councillors are concerned over the continued consumption of what they believe is dirty water by the city's one million residents.

According to the latest council report, councillors were disturbed by the bad quality of water.

The councillors said rehabilitation of waterworks, meant to improve the quality of water, was supposed to be carried out after the disbursement of funds from the Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe (IDBZ).

"Water discolouration was continuing yet IDBZ had provided funds for the rehabilitation of water," said Councillor Norman Hlabani.

"We are concerned about tenders for the rehabilitation of water treatment works as no progress has been done."

Hlabani said council was delaying accessing the funds.

Councillor Ephraim Ncube said council should be made to solve the problem relating to the dirty-looking water.

However, the BCC director of engineering services Simela Dube said although water reservoirs had not been cleaned for a long time, the dirty water was safe to drink.

"The discoloured water is very safe as it has been disinfected accordingly and necessary tests were done," he said.

The director of engineering services said power cuts were delaying the installation of pumps.

"Power supply was delaying the installation of pumps. The tender of water works rehabilitation was $7 million and only $1 million has been availed," he said. "Work done was within the available funds."

According to the report, the discoloured water was caused by mud, which over the years had found its way into the pipelines during water bursts or when reservoir levels became low.

Sudden high pressure in the reticulation pipes, especially after a water cut, washes the mud to the taps, hence the muddy water.