Villagers Warned Against Drinking Water From Poisoned River
The Civil Protection Unit (CPU) says water samples collected from Murare River after 30 000 litres of creosote termite poison spilled into the water body are still undergoing final laboratory analysis.
This comes after a truck that was travelling from South Africa overturned and spilled the chemical into the river which is a tributary of Save River.
Acting Manicaland Provincial Director (Local Government Services and Administration), John Misi told The Manica Post that CPU has advised community members to avoid drinking water from the river and nearby boreholes until the final lab results confirm that the water is safe. He said:
We have advised community members to avoid drinking water until we receive the final lab results, which are expected by the end of this week.
According to preliminary results, the water appears clear and free of contamination, but we want to be extra careful and confirm the quality before proceeding.
The tests are being conducted at the Environmental Management Agency (EMA), the Ministry of Health and Child Care and the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) laboratories.
We will follow the ministry’s guidance on whether the water is safe to drink or not after the final results are released. We will inform the communities as soon as we have the confirmation to drink it.
Misi said they are working with the Chimanimani Rural District Council to provide water trucks to the affected community every day.
He added that they intend to drill two additional boreholes for the community as it had water problems even before the accident.
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