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Michell Zvanyanya/ Brenda Zinyuke, Chronicle Reporters

THE Bulawayo City Council (BCC) has assured residents that its water is safe for consumption despite it having a muddy odour.

Residents have been complaining over the water taste, fearing waterborne diseases.

But in a statement yesterday, BCC Director of Health Services Dr Edwin Sibanda said council was aware that the water has an odour but there is no need to worry.

“There has been a concern about an odour within the water system but as health services department, we are monitoring the water quality specifically for the bacterial content that is likely to be associated with diseases as well as the residual chlorine. So far, our water is safe.  We admit that there could be an odour but this is not a threat to human life,” Dr Sibanda said. “We know that there is a disinfectant in the water system and if it reaches a certain level that is defined, there is likely to be no bacteria that can cause any disease in a human being; therefore, the water is safe.”

His sentiments were echoed by the city’s Director of Engineering Services, Engineer Simela Dube, who stated that the smell was due to the low dam levels of 35 percent.

“We plead with the public to bear with the local authority especially in terms of the odour that is in our water. We are now drawing water almost at the bottom of our dams which is naturally closer to the mud and we are directly pumping it to the treatment works. In the past, we had a raw water reservoir where water will be pumped in before it goes into the treatment plant,” Eng Dube said.

He said the 96-hour water shedding programme is also compounding the situation. “As a result, you are aware that we have been implementing a 96-hour shedding which results in pipes being emptied almost twice a week when the system is closed because during the treatment processes there are particles of mud that will be going through the filter beds,” he said.

“So, when the system is interrupted those particles will sit on the floors and ferment, producing an odour within the pipes. When we reconnect water, that odour will still be stuck in the pipelines and it is carried with the water that we now consume,” he said. — @michellzvanyanyan2/@zinyuke98