Zimbabwe: No water in Bulawayo despite recent rains

5 January, 2008 in Africa

source: The Financial Gazette
Charles Rukuni Bureau Chief

BULAWAYO — The country’s second largest city is still experiencing water problems, this time not because the dams are empty but because the local authority does not have enough chemicals to treat the water.

Council spokesman Pathisa Nyathi said the city’s supply dams had received significant inflows but supplies were sometimes cut because of a shortage of water treatment chemicals.
“We were not supplying water, particularly to the eastern suburbs, from Friday last week until New Year’s day because we had run out of aluminium sulphate,” Nyathi said.
He said six chemicals were used to purify the water but the council had not been able to access one of these.
He said the main constraint was the price the council must pay for [continue reading]