Harare Mayor, Cllr Lovejoy Chitengu has been challenged to drink tap water in the city’s western suburbs such as Kambuzuma and Glen Norah where the water is reportedly contaminated.
This comes after Chitengu assured Harare residents that the tap water in the city is safe to drink, adding that it has been passed fit for consumption by experts.
Chitengu demonstrated that tap water is indeed safe by drinking from a tap at Morton Jaffray waterworks during a tour of the facility on Saturday.
However, award-winning journalist Hopewell Chin’ono said the tap water at Morton Jaffray is relatively clean compared to the water that comes out of taps in the suburbs.
Responding to a video in which Chitengu boasts about the “cleanness” of tap water in Harare that was posted on X by the council’s official account, Chin’ono suggested that water is contaminated when it enters Harare’s “old rusty network”, making it unsafe to drink. Said Chin’ono:
The issue here is that the new mayor is at the treatment plant, so quality should generally be good at the source.
However, the water has not yet entered into the old rusty network of Harare where it gets contaminated. Storage tanks are also a source of water contamination.
The mayor should drink the water from Kambuzuma or Glen Norah, and not at the treatment plant.
It is like being at the source of a polluted river, and you say the river is not polluted without taking into consideration pollution sources downstream.
Another X user, Zvidz Mat said: “Also people should regularly clean their water tanks at home. Mamwe ma tank atiri kuona mukufamba umu haana kugara mushwe akazara mazerere mukati. It’s a collective responsibility of CoH (the City of Harare) and the residents as well”.
Meanwhile, the Government has said Harare’s water supply has improved significantly over the last few weeks.
In an interview with The Sunday Mail, Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development chief director (water resources and irrigation development) Tinayeshe Mutazu said that Treasury has provided financial resources to the tune of US$1.2 million.
Mutazu also said Harare was unable to raise funds for the procurement of water treatment chemicals due to its dysfunctional rates billing system. He said:
The major challenge that has been affecting Harare is a shortage of water treatment chemicals. The city could not procure the chemicals because revenue collection is very low on account of their billing system, which has collapsed.
We are starting at a point where we acknowledge that there was serious mismanagement by the City of Harare, which led to the near collapse of the water value supply chain.
Last month, the Government established a technical committee to address the severe water supply challenges facing the capital.
The committee was also tasked with increasing and maintaining water production at around 520 mega litres a day and reducing non-revenue water from 59 percent to 55 percent.
It is also expected to ensure improved potable water supply coverage in the city from 40 percent to 60 percent.
Earlier this month, former Harare deputy mayor Kudzai Kadzombe said that the city needs 1200 mega litres for residents to get water daily but has a production capacity of 600ML.
Most of the time, the city produces 300ML which it shares with Ruwa, Norton, Epworth and Chitungwiza.
The City of Harare obtains its water supply from four dams; Lake Chivero, Lake Manyame, Harava Dam and Prince Edward Dam (which are also in the Manyame Catchment area and downstream of the City of Harare).
It is expected that when Kunzvi Dam located in Mashonaland East Province, is completed, Harare will get a cleaner water source and reduce the water treatment costs.
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