Bulawayo cuts water-shedding hours

BULAWAYO City Council (BCC) has reduced its weekly water-shedding schedule from 130 hours to 96 hours following a slight improvement in inflows into the city's supply dams due to sustained rains.

Bulawayo has endured prolonged water shortages for decades, a situation that has worsened in recent years because of ageing infrastructure, climate change and rising demand from a growing population.

The city relies on six supply dams - Umzingwane, Inyankuni, Upper Ncema, Lower Ncema, Mtshabezi and Insiza =-which frequently drop to critically low levels during drought periods. This has forced the local authority to impose stringent water-shedding regimes, leaving some suburbs without running water for days or even weeks.

As a result, residents often resort to boreholes, wells and other unsafe water sources, increasing the risk of water-borne diseases. Illegal gold panning in river catchment areas has further compounded the crisis by disrupting inflows into the dams, while ageing water and sewer reticulation systems continue to trigger frequent pipe bursts, sewer spills and contamination risks.

According to the latest edition of BCC's weekly newsletter MasiyePambili, quoting acting director of Water and Sanitation Engineering Mr Kwanele Sibanda, the improvement in water availability has been driven by rising dam levels following consistent rainfall across the country.

Mr Sibanda said the reduction in water-shedding hours is expected to bring some relief to residents, although he cautioned that the situation remains fragile and dependent on continued inflows and responsible water use.

The council urged residents to continue conserving water, noting that long-term solutions to Bulawayo's water challenges require major infrastructure investment and the protection of catchment areas to ensure sustainable supplies.\