The ongoing power cuts across the country are having a debilitating effect on the provision of water to Harare residents, the Harare City Council (HCC) has revealed.
HCC water director, Mabhena Moyo disclosed to councillors that some areas have been without running water for more than a month due to load shedding. He said:
The extremely long hours of load-shedding are greatly affecting the pumping of water to suburbs.
We recently commissioned the Avondale Pump Station to supply water to areas such as Mabelreign and other Western suburbs but that has not been working because of power outages, leaving our residents dry.
Meanwhile, HCC Town Clerk Hosiah Chisango said that the council has approached the power utility, ZESA Holdings for exemption from the load shedding as it has affected sewer treatment plants which cannot treat raw sewer. Said Chisango:
Firle Sewer Treatment Plant gets 20 hours of load-shedding meaning during the day no sewer is being treated. This puts pressure on the system resulting in possible blockages and some bursts as it has nowhere to go.