Source: Harare water gets US$2m boost, Darwendale pump on the way – herald
Remember Deketeke
Municipal Correspondent
A NEW water pump will soon be installed at Morton Jaffray to draw water from Darwendale Dam, while four additional pumps worth US$2 million have been purchased, with the upgrade expected to improve water supplies to thousands of households in Harare.
Prepaid water meters and mainline pipes have also been installed in cholera hotspot suburbs like Budiriro, Glen View and Glen Norah, among other areas.
By the end of last week, 36 500 prepaid meters had been installed in Harare.
In an interview, Helcraw Water (Pvt) Limited owner Mr Farai Jere said the company, in partnership with Council, is implementing a multi-million-dollar intervention to ease the capital city’s water problems.
The package is expected to boost raw water inflows, strengthen pumping capacity and improve supplies to thousands of households that have endured years of shortages caused by ageing infrastructure, rising demand and limited investment.
Mr Jere said a new pump had been secured, awaiting installation for the Darwendale pipeline to increase water deliveries into Harare’s water treatment system.
“We have connected a pipe from Darwendale dam to improve water output into the city. The water will be blended with supplies from Lake Chivero for treatment, which will also help reduce purification costs,” he said.
He said the Darwendale intervention would complement the procurement of four major pumps worth US$2 million, which are set to replace ageing units that have been in service since 1976.
The existing pumps have become increasingly prone to breakdowns, contributing to frequent supply disruptions across the city.
Harare Mayor Councillor Jacob Mafume said the latest investment marked a breakthrough in efforts to modernise critical water infrastructure.
“Partnerships are now producing significant results. These four water pumps, which were installed in 1976, are being replaced, and we have bought new ones. This is why we need private sector participation together with us,” he said.
Mayor Mafume said the local authority would have struggled to secure such equipment quickly under conventional procurement processes.
“To purchase this, it would have taken us years as we go up and down with the various regulations that have been introduced, which simply serve to delay and defer purchases of critical equipment such as water pumps,” he said.
Helcraw Water managing director Mr Zodeck Muchoko said the four pumps were expected in the country before September.
“These newly bought pumps are very big and it will take time for all four of them to be in the country, so we are expecting them before September this year,” he said.
Harare’s water system, much of it built in the 1960s and 1970s, has struggled to keep pace with a fast-growing population, resulting in low pressure, intermittent supply and recurring bursts in old pipelines.
The water shortages have also heightened public health risks, particularly in densely populated suburbs where residents often rely on unsafe alternative sources.
Harare has in recent years recorded repeated cholera outbreaks linked to poor sanitation, contaminated water and sewer failures.
To tackle that threat, Mr Jere said prepaid water meters and pipe replacement programmes were now being prioritised in cholera-prone suburbs such as Budiriro, Glen View and Glen Norah.
“We are targeting areas that have been most affected by water challenges and disease outbreaks so that residents can begin to enjoy reliable and safer water supplies,” he said.
Mr Jere said the expansion is aimed at modernising Harare’s water distribution network and improving efficiency in service delivery.
He added that Helcraw is also set to replace 106 kilometres of ageing pipes within Harare’s central business district this year to curb leakages and enhance system performance.
“We are working to ensure that the infrastructure matches the new metering system so that residents can fully benefit from improved service delivery,” he said.
For years, Harare’s antiquated infrastructure has led to significant inefficiencies, including high levels of water losses and erratic supply, and the rollout, which began late last year, is already transforming the lives of residents in high-density suburbs.
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