Water crisis to deepen in Bulawayo

Bulawayo’s water woes are set to deepen as council could be forced to decommission a second dam this month as the city’s dam levels have dropped to 40 percent.

Bulawayo City Council (BCC) had projected to decommission Umzingwane dam in November after it stopped drawing water from Upper Ncema dam in July.

BCC Deputy Director of Engineering Services engineer Sikhumbuzo Ncube expressed concern that the city’s water consumption levels were very high and could lead to Umzingwane dam being decommissioned earlier than projected.

If that happens, council will be left with four water supply dams, Lower Ncema, Insiza, Mtshabezi and Inyankuni.

The water crisis has seen council introducing a 48-hour water shedding programme which sometimes goes beyond the scheduled period.