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Mkhululi Ncube, Chronicle Reporter
Bulawayo City Council says it has completed the final phase of the rehabilitation of the Criterion Water Works which will result in the city’s water pumping capacity going up to 180ML per day against a daily consumption of 150ML.

The project is being done under the Bulawayo Water and Sewerage Services Improvement Project and is funded to the tune of US$33 million by the African Development Bank (AfDB).

The development is expected to increase efficiency and boost the amount of water coming to the city and raw water reservoirs.

BCC corporate communication manager Mrs Nesisa Mpofu said the project will increase capacity and significantly improve operational efficiency of the plant.

“The work was the final stages of the rehabilitation of the Criterion Water Works which is being done under the Bulawayo Water and Sewerage Services Improvement Project. The contractor was installing the final components which include the replacement of the DN 600 and DN700 bypass valves, replacement of the DN 1000 raw water outlet valve (upper Bellmouth); replace pump 2 inlet valve spindle and the installing of the Plant 1 inlet flowmeter,” said Mrs Mpofu.

She said the works also included the installation of flows meters for both Plants 1 and 2 as well as backwash isolation valves.

In 2019 the city went for days without water when the rehabilitation project commenced after the local authority said it encountered some unforeseen challenges which raised the ire of residents.

Last year the city went through one of its worst water crises when it decommissioned three dams — Upper and Lower Ncema and Umzingwane — forcing it to impose a six-day water shedding regime which saw an outbreak of a water-borne disease which claimed lives in Luveve suburb.

BCC has recommissioned the three dams with the latest stats showing that the city dams are at a combined 70 percent full after heavy rains that have been received this rainy season.

Government under the Second Republic has availed funding to finish the Gwayi-Shangani Dam which is the permanent solution to the Bulawayo water problems.

Last month President Mnangagwa officiated at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Gwayi-Shangani to Bulawayo water pipeline which will convey water to the city when the dam is finished.

Meanwhile, BCC town clerk Mr Christopher Dube said power cuts affected pumping of water after the completion of the project.

Mr Dube said the power outage resulted in the stoppage of water treatment for six hours which compromised the recovery of the Criterion clear water reservoir levels and Hillside, 6J and Rifle Range. – @themkhust.