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Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
WATER shortages in Victoria Falls are far from over as the local authority is struggling with constant breakdowns at the pumping station as a result of obsolete equipment.

Besides ageing equipment, the city council is battling power challenges at the pump station, treatment plant and reservoir and weighing options of alternative energy sources.

There have been calls from residents for council to use standby solar energy and generators.

The council has ruled out use of both saying it’s not cost effective.

About 1 200 litres of diesel is needed to run a single generator per day at each of the three stations, according to a costing done by the local authority in 2019.

The costing was done on assumption of half-a -day of load shedding.

The second option would have been use of solar energy but was also ruled out as council would need about US$6 million to establish a solar plant.

Speaking during a familiarisation tour of the waterworks recently, the city’s operations engineer Mr Nathan Ngwenya said the third option was to apply to the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority for a dedicated power line for three stations.

He said the dedicated line will cost US$350  000, money which council does not have.

In light of the above, Victoria Falls residents are likely to endure the hot season without reliable water supply.

Usually, council struggles to supply sufficient water between August and December due to depleting water levels on the Zambezi River, making pumping difficult.

Mkhosana suburb endures dry taps on a daily basis because pumping is direct from the treatment plant to houses while in BD46, water only comes out at night because the section of the suburb is on higher ground.

“The current pump house is not a permanent structure but a makeshift until a time when funds permit. This pump house has challenges especially during the dry season because as the water goes down in the channel, the pumps are not able to draw water. So, we end up using two pumps.

“When the station was handed over by Zinwa, one of the pumps was faulty which is why we had challenges as the pump broke down. The state of our system, pipes and pumps is not good as the pipes are corroded. We have been carrying rehabilitation work replacing some pipes that were leaking and currently we are running with one pump and we are not able to meet demand,” said Mr Ngwenya.

He said council usually manually controls distribution to ensure that all residents have access to water.

Victoria Falls City Council has over the years been courting investors for a US$15 million Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (Wash) project with plans underway to construct ground and elevated reservoirs.

A senior resident, Mr Christopher Ndiweni said it was regrettable that the local authority inherited obsolete water equipment from Zinwa.

In a statement yesterday acting Town Clerk Ms Kholwani Mangena said the ongoing maintenance work will likely run until September 4.

She urged residents to bear with council as the current water disruptions are a result of maintenance works.
-@ncubeleon