As Zimbabwe joins the rest of the world water day, civic groups in the country have called on government to reduce pollution and eliminate dumping of hazardous substances into main water bodies.
World Water Day is held annually on 22 March as a means of focusing attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources.
This year, World Water Day is being commemorated under the theme “Wastewater”.
According to Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) Harare residents continue to be exposed to contaminated water thus putting them at risk of contracting diseases such as cholera, typhoid and dysentery.
“Statistics from the World Health Organization (WHO) indicate that 1.8 billion people around the world use a source of drinking water contaminated with faeces with about 842 000 deaths reported each year,” noted CHRA.
The residents body added that main water source for Harare, Lake Chivero is heavily polluted with raw sewer, accusing local authority of failing to put in place measures to reduce the effects of wastewater on the environment.
Water from Marimba River which transports water to Lake Chivero, Harare’s major water source is contaminated with raw sewage and faeces from a broken sewer pipe. Pic by CHRA
“Our major concern is the apparent lack of will by authorities in Harare to ensure residents enjoy their constitutional right of access to safe, clean and portable water with over $9 million out of the $13 million the Harare City Council is collecting monthly being used to pay salaries of council staff who are all overpaid,” added CHRA.
Community Water Alliance also expressed concern over wastewater being discharged into streams feeding into water bodies accusing City of Harare of corruptly awarding a $13 million tender to Energy Resources Africa Consortium without following tender procedures.
“At Firle Wastewater treatment plant efforts to reduce quantity and pollution load of un-treated wastewater discharge were hampered by the US$13 816 117.10 corruption scandal involving Energy Resources Africa Consortium (ERAC) trading as Port River (Pvt) Limited, a company that was awarded a contract by the City of Harare,” noted Community Water Alliance.
The organization further noted that destruction of wetlands was the major contributor to poor raw water quality that is forcing City of Harare to fork out US$3 million every month towards water treatment costs while placing Lake Chivero among the top ten dirty lakes in the world.
“Burst sewer pipes have also contributed to borehole water faecal contamination (as reported by the Environmental Management Agency-February 2017) putting residents at risk of typhoid and cholera,” further noted Community Water Alliance, calling on the government and local authorities to formulate targets for wastewater disposal.
