Bulawayo runs out of water

Bulawayo City Council has warned of an imminent crippling water rationing regime in three months time.

Officials say the city with more than one million residents is only left with three month water supplies at its supply dams.

The city's six supply dams are holding a cumulative 150 million cubic metres of water, which is 36 percent of their total capacity.

Addressing the media on Tuesday, Director of engineering services, Engineer Simela Dube said Upper Ncema, one of the supply dams has already been decommissioned and Umzingwane may follow in three months.

"I believe if we conserve water Umzingwane can take us to the next rainy season without us resorting to further water rationing. We're all aware that we're already under water rationing.

So we're calling on residents to further restrict their water usage because if we impose rationing on them, it will come with penalties," said Simela.

"Our water levels are now at 36 percent of capacity. Upper Ncema Dam has been decommissioned as it is now one percent full. We're anticipating that Umzingwane will be decommissioned in the next three months if water is not used sparingly. But if water is conserved Umzingwane can take us to the next rainy season," he said.

Council introduced water rationing penalties in March 2010 as a response to the deteriorating water situation prevailing then and to deter consumers from irresponsible use of water.

Under the water rationing scheme, houses in the eastern suburbs were allocated not more than 350 litres per day, while those in the western suburbs were to use 300 litres.