Gweru City Council shuts water supplies

THE Gweru City Council, which is battling to provide constant water supplies to residents, has shut down one of its water pumping systems to attend to serious water leakages at the main water supply dam, Gwenoro.

Gweru residents who have been subjected to erratic water supplies by the local authority did not have water the whole of last week when a huge tree fell and disrupted an electricity line connected to the city's Range booster, the water supply plant.

In a statement yesterday, Engineer Jones Nanthambwe said the local authority was forced to shut down pumping of water after a "serious leakage" was discovered near the city's water works.

He said the development had resulted in large quantities of water being lost through the leak.

"We have a shut down at Gwenoro Dam to repair a very serious leak. There shall be no water supplies in the city as a whole owing to the problem. Normal water supplies will resume once the problem has been rectified in the shortest possible time," said Eng Nanthambwe.

The latest development means Gweru residents would have to endure more days without the precious liquid.

Recently, the city's Deputy Mayor, Councillor Taurai Demo, told Chronicle that the city's water supplies would improve after the council repaired two more water pumps at Gwenoro.

Prior to the repair of the two pumps, Gweru has been relying on only two pumps out of a possible nine to provide water for the city.