Story by Owen Mandovha
HARARE’S water supply has received a major boost after rehabilitation works at the Morton Jaffray Water Treatment Works increased daily production by 70 megalitres, easing shortages that have affected the capital for more than two decades.
The rehabilitation programme, being implemented under a tripartite agreement involving the Government, the City of Harare and Helcraw Water, is replacing ageing infrastructure and raising production capacity from an average of 350 megalitres to 420 megalitres per day.
Completed works include the repair of leaks at the treatment plant, the refurbishment of filter beds and the installation of a new compressor.
To support the increased output, the City of Harare and Helcraw Water have also acquired four new pumps from China.
Helcraw Water Chief Executive Officer Zedock Muchoko said the project was restoring critical infrastructure across the city’s water supply system.
“The project includes rehabilitating the entire water system value chain, which was aged, and this includes the Morton Jaffray Water Works,” he said.
“Production capacity was at 350 megalitres per day, which was depressed for years, not able to supply Harare with sufficient water supplies. There is an increase in water production by more than 70 megalitres. Areas such as Dzivarasekwa are now getting water for the first time in over 20 years.”
Harare City Council Acting Town Clerk Advocate Warren Chiwawa said the partnership was beginning to reverse years of underinvestment in the city’s water infrastructure.
“The tripartite arrangement is working tremendously to deal with the perennial water shortages, and this is in line with improving service delivery and also the attainment of Vision 2030,” he said.
“Government is providing the much-needed support to the City of Harare, and we have installed more than 50 000 smart meters which are complementing the project.”
Residents in some of the worst-affected suburbs said they were now receiving regular water supplies after relying on boreholes for years.
“It is my first time to witness water coming out from the taps in more than 20 years, and indeed we are now getting water almost every day,” one Dzivarasekwa resident said.
Another resident said: “The situation here in Dzivarasekwa has significantly improved over the years, and since the smart water meters were installed, we are now seeing water coming out from the taps.”
A third resident added: “We never used to get water from the City of Harare and we relied on boreholes for a long time. So we are excited.”
Beyond increasing production, the Harare Water Project includes the installation of prepaid smart water meters and the replacement of ageing asbestos pipes with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipes to reduce non-revenue water and modernise the city’s water distribution network.
The tripartite arrangement is one of the infrastructure delivery models being implemented by the Government in partnership with local authorities as part of efforts to upgrade essential public services and support the country’s Vision 2030 development agenda.
