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Thupeyo Muleya Beitbridge Bureau
PERENNIAL water woes in Beitbridge could soon be a thing of the past with work on the construction of a $13 million water treatment plant nearing completion.The project started in 2011 and was set for completion over a period of two years but was stalled by shortage of funds.

Beitbridge Civil Protection Committee chairman Peter Moyo yesterday said the project was 95 percent complete and civil works would be finalised before year end. “We are very hopeful that by the end of this year our water woes will be over. As a committee we are very concerned with the situation on the ground where some parts of Dulibadzimu suburb are yet to be connected to water while supplies are still erratic on some sections, which are connected to the water reticulation system,” said Moyo.

He said once completed the new water treatment plant would augment water supplies to the town that has an estimated population of 42,218 people and an additional 10,000 in-transit population per day.

At the moment the existing treatment plant only pumps 3,000 cubic metres of water per day against a capacity of 6,000. The new treatment plant has a pumping capacity of 2,160 cubic metres per hour.

The town needs at least 15,000 cubic metres of water per day but Zinwa is pumping only 3,000 cubic metres per day.