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| Pumps at the abstraction station at Bushmead |
Moses Ziyambi
City of Masvingo is pumping water
at half capacity due to insufficient power supplies at the Bushmead Water
Works, and not due to any challenges on the part of council infrastructure,
Mayor Collen Maboke has said.
Addressing a press conference this
afternoon, April 13, Maboke said there was no maintenance problems at the
waterworks, and the below average water supplies are due to a burnt-down Zimbabwe
Electricity Transmission Distribution Company (ZETDC) transformer.
“We have a transformer which got
burnt beyond repair just before Bushmead. In response, Zesa (ZETDC’s parent
company) connected us to an alternative feeder route which passes through
Clipsham. This alternative line, unfortunately, is oversubscribed and this
means not enough power is getting to the waterworks. We are therefore using one
pump instead of two.
“Currently, we have no
maintenance challenges at the water works except for the supply shortfalls we
have always had. If we are to get sufficient power supplies, we would be able
to pump as much as we have been pumping before the power supply problems,” said
Maboke.
The city recently suffered severe
water shortages, with all suburbs not receiving any supplies as authorities battled to liaise with ZETDC so that the power
supplies could be restored urgently.
It is not yet clear when the power
utility would be able to replace the destroyed transformer and reconnect the
water works to the usual feeder.
