Councils top water pollution list

The Sunday Mail

In an unexpected twist to the unfolding revelations of massive water pollution, an Environmental Management Agency (Ema) survey has revealed that municipalities are the main culprits compromising the quality of drinking water across the country.
In terms of the Urban Councils Act and Rural District Councils Act, local authorities are mandated to provide potable water to residents in their respective jurisdictions.

However, it turns out councils are, in fact, largely behind the pollution of water.
Harare City Council — whose jurisdiction expands to Chitungwiza, Ruwa and Norton — tops the list as it discharges 3 885 mega litres of raw sewage into water sources per day.

Bulawayo City Council comes second, discharging 13 mega litres of effluent into Mazai River daily, which, in turn, feeds into Umguza River.

Also on the list are Mutare, Masvingo, Gweru, Chegutu and Norton, although their pollution contribution could not be immediately determined.

Other culprits include funeral parlours, food outlets, filling stations and industries.
Ema spokesperson Mr Steady Kangata told The Sunday Mail that raw sewage continues to leak through old and dilapidated pipe networks and, subsequently, flows into water sources.

Most water treatment plants across the country lack the capacity to eliminate such huge volumes of contaminants, meaning unsafe drinking water eventually reaches the consumer. It is because of this failure to contain sewage flow that councils top the list.

The survey, Mr Kangata said, revealed that Harare City Council’s pollution mainly affected Lake Chivero as well as Mukuvisi, Marimba, Ruwa and Nyatsime rivers, all of which are in the Manyame catchment area.
Ironically, the pollution takes place upstream while the city draws its water downstream.

In Bulawayo, it was established that effluent comprises chemicals discharged by industries and council’s raw sewage. A total of US$13,3 million is required to purify Mazai and Pekiwe rivers as well as fix the pipes spilling raw sewage into the water bodies.

During the survey, red flags were also raised in Chinhoyi where major sewage treatment plants such as Mpata, Hospital and Chaedza are not fully operational.

Mr Kangata said organisations should install waste interceptors and pre-treatment plants to curb water pollution.
“Local authorities are the major polluters in terms of the release of raw sewage into water. On the other hand, their water treatment plants are not fully functional and this is compounded by the high incidence of sewer pipe bursts.

“Bulawayo draws water upstream and pollutes downstream. In Harare, pollution occurs upstream and the abstraction point is downstream; the scenario is like that of a dog biting its own tail.

“We have held several board hearings with Ruwa, Chinhoyi, Harare, Chitungwiza, Chegutu and Norton on allegations of pollution because we do not want a situation similar to the 2008 cholera outbreak.”

Responding to the findings, Bulawayo Mayor Martin Moyo attributed the situation to the bad state of sewer and water treatment infrastructure, which was installed 60 years ago.

He said council was working to mobilise funds to rehabilitate the equipment.
Harare Town Clerk Dr Tendai Mahachi said the US$144,4 million loan obtained from China Export Import Bank would help address water quality concerns in the capital.

The funds will cover the refurbishment of Morton Jaffray and Prince Edward water works as well as Firle and Crowborough sewage treatment plants.

How pollution occurs
Industries