The Sunday Mail
A fortnight ago Harare City Council released a statement repeating the decades-old mantra that the water they supply is safe for human consumption. This is despite misgivings by consumers that the water is smelly and dirty.
Nevertheless, after years of being stalked by waterborne disease outbreaks such as diarrhoea, typhoid and cholera, council’s statement hardly restores residents’ confidence.
This is without mentioning that this year alone 40 cases of typhoid have already been confirmed while 600 were suspected in Harare.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Health and Childcare reported that 30 people died as a result of diarrhoea while 50 000 other cases were registered countrywide since the beginning of the year.
It is against the backdrop of these developments that more and more people in Harare are turning to boreholes. The assumption is that borehole water is clean and safe.
Surveys show that most houses in low density and developing suburbs now have boreholes while almost all community and public centre in the townships have also drilled boreholes.
However, water management experts say there is no guarantee that most boreholes in Harare have safe water or are safe from being contaminated.
They say while the law requires that borehole drilling be regulated by Zimbabwe Water Authority (Zinwa) most people are disregarding the law and are drilling boreholes without guidance from the authority.
Experts further suggest that underground water can be contaminated with septic tanks, burst underground sewer pipes, toxic minerals and other varying contaminants.
With houses being built closer together in Harare and sewer pipes bursting regularly, chances are high that borehole water could be contaminated.
Water management expert Zeb Maringweni explained how boreholes can be contaminated. He said there is a distance which should be kept between a borehole and the nearest potential contaminant.
“There should be a distance between potential pollutants such as septic tanks, blair toilets and any other source of pollution,” he said. “If it is too close the water will end up being contaminated and the water becomes very dangerous for human consumption.
“But if the distance is within the recommended limits, by the time contaminated water reaches the clean water it would have been decontaminated by the earth, the bacteria would have been completely weakened.”
Health departments in most countries require that septic tanks and human-waste lagoons be installed at least 15 meters from a well or a borehole. The distance should be double for septic tank drain fields.
A water quality expert with Zinwa said the main worry is that people are sinking boreholes near contaminants as they are drilling boreholes without consulting authorities.
“We encourage neighbours to always plan together because you may think that you are drilling your borehole away from your septic tank or any other pollutant but end up putting it closer to your neigbhour’s,” she said.
“But it is always possible and easy to eliminate danger and we always encourage everyone to consult us before drilling boreholes.”
It can, however, be argued that the risk is limited in some areas of Harare since they are connected to the city’s sewer reticulation system. Nevertheless, experts argue that the danger of contamination still remains considering the haphazard drilling which is going on in the city.
Environment Management Agency (EMA) says caution should always be taken as there is always a possibility of pollution.
“There is no such thing in nature as “pure” water. Nearly all water contains contaminants, even in the absence of nearby pollution-causing activities,” says EMA in a statement.
“Many dissolved minerals, organic carbon compounds, and microbes find their way into your drinking water as water comes into contact with air and soil. When pollutant and contaminant levels in drinking water are excessively high, they may affect certain household routines and or be detrimental to human health.”
Harare City Council spokesperson, Mr Michael Chideme, said people should not fear as boreholes in Harare are safe.
“Harare Water Department does regular checks on all the boreholes that are in Harare and if a borehole is contaminated or does not meet standards we close it,” he said. “So together with our partners we assist and locate where to drill, generally the boreholes in Harare are safe because those which are not safe we close them down.”
Chideme encouraged consumers to always follow procedure and consult authorities before sinking boreholes.
According to Section 35 of the Water Act, no-one is allowed to sink, alter or deepen a borehole without seeking permission. Clean water is increasingly becoming inaccessible in poor countries and the United Nations predicts that 2,7 billion people worldwide will face severe water shortages by 2025.
In Africa alone, 345 million people lack access to water while 3,4 million die from water-related diseases.
